By Miguel Rivera

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is ready for his first defense of the WBC super welterweight title, which takes place on Saturday June 18 at Arena VFG in Tlajomulco, Jalisco (6:00 pm). Alvarez and Ryan Rhodes, his official challenger, were face to face at the final press conference held at the Pan American Volleyball Stadium, with a squad of local media, national and international media.

"The birth of a new idol in Mexico, a young man who leads from border to border and coast to coast, with bravery, courage, heart, dignity and the honor of being Mexican," said Jose Sulaiman, WBC President.

Eric Gomez, of Golden Boy Promotions, thanked all of the sponsors for their support in order to bring the first defense of Saul Alvarez to Guadalajara. The fight is going to be broadcast on HBO and Televisa, whihc are the major television stations in the United States and Mexico.

On his turn at the microphone, "El Canelo" said he was grateful and happy for those who support him:

"I'm very happy because this is what we were dreaming about, even before I was a world champion, and that was to make the first defense in Guadalajara - and we have complied with that. We always take our work very seriously and prepare 100% for the fight. As I told my manager, we do not like to talk much, we'll just show everything in the ring. Rhodes says he'll knock me out, but I do my talking in the ring, and that is where I'll teach him respect .'

Meanwhile, the challenger Ryan Rhodes advised Canelo to expect a real war in the ring. Even the European fighter recalled that when Matthew Hatton faced Alvarez in March, this was not a natural junior middleweight, but this time Alvarez will be in the ring with a real junior middleweight.

"I came to win, in my view there is no other outcome than winning his title and I'll taking it back to my country," he said.