Silent Cinco – Second Time in Three Years, But for Different Reasons

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By Marc “Kid Huevos” Livitz

Things seem odd all over the boxing world these days. A national holiday which is hardly recognized as a whole in its country of origin is gleefully celebrated in the United States as yet another reason to overindulge in whatever we wish. It seems quite strange that Cinco de Mayo, which contrary to misguided popular opinion is not Mexican Independence Day falls on Taco Tuesday, yet it is to be sadly swept under the rug due to a virus which shares its name with a popular beer from that very country.

Had this not been the case, then boxing circles would likely be buzzing with the result of yet another successful defense by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez of his numerous middleweight world championship titles, this time over perhaps Billy Joe Saunders. Without a doubt, Alvarez, 53-1-2, 36 KO’s is one of the best talents in the sport today and he has a massive following consisting of appreciation bordering on pure madness from a boxing crazed nation and the heritage ingrained within another. One year ago today on May 4, 2019, Canelo topped Danny Jacobs in Las Vegas by way of a close unanimous decision victory, which was followed by an impressive stoppage win over Sergey Kovalev in the penultimate round of a light heavyweight championship contest.

So, in many ways, there may be fans across the globe who feel the need to vent their frustrations over a lost weekend which would usually include a high profile prize fight. This is through no fault of anyone’s, of course. If we jump back two years, on the contrary, we’ll recall how May 5, 2018 actually fell on a Saturday and Alvarez was originally slated to face Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in a hotly anticipated rematch for middleweight supremacy in Las Vegas. Their first bout, which took place on September 17, 2017 ended with a fair result, which was a draw but yet a tainted card by judge Adelaide Byrd (118-110 for Canelo) soured the night. Although a clash with Billy Joe Saunders may not have brought down the house, we still would have more to talk about in the sports world other than what a massive disappointment the NBA biopic “The Last Dance” has turned out to be thus far.

In any case, May 5, 2018 heard crickets in Vegas due to Canelo’s assertion that tainted meat was in fact the reason for his pre-fight drug screen going awry. Some scientists could possibly claim that one might have to eat a pasture’s fill of cows to achieve such high levels, but that is neither here nor there. Alas, here we are. Basically nowhere, much like May 6, 2017, when Alvarez “fought” Julio Cesar Chavez, JR. in a bout which was copiously piled upon us as ‘The Battle for Mexico’. Sometimes, it happens and sometimes, nothing is better than something.

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