By Jose Luis Camarillo and Miguel Rivera

WBC junior middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez realizes the danger involved in Saturday's fight with Kermit Cintron, a former champion at welterweight. Alvarez will have backing of the entire arena, filled with thousands of Mexican fans at the Monumental Plaza de Toros in Mexico City. Alvarez said he is "100% ready" for the challenge of Cintron, who beat Alfredo Angulo and fought to a draw with current middleweight king Sergio Martinez.

Alvarez's trainer Jose "Chepo" Reynoso said his fighter had a total of 110 rounds of sparring, four minutes each, with different sparring partners. And one of those sparring partners was Nobuhiro Ishida, who knocked out the dangerous James Kirkland in one round.

Canelo knows Cintron is the more experienced boxer and hits hard, but believe the most deciding factor in the fight is speed and he doesn't feel Cintron is capable of dealing with a boxer who exhibits fast hands. BoxingScene.com reported last week that Cintron used former three division champion Shane Mosley as a sparring partner. Mosley was helping Cintron deal with a fighter who has fast hands.

"More than anything Cintron is a tough opponent. He's a complete fighter with experience, strength and a strong punch, but I only have to be faster than him," Alvarez said.

Chepo said  - "Canelo has to display his faster punches in the fight. Canelo is a boxer with good defense, good offense, good counters and his reaction time is very fast."