For the first time in their careers, siblings Canelo Alvarez and Ricardo “Dinamita” Alvarez are preparing to fight in America on the same card against opponents with similar styles.

Canelo, a 23-year-old junior middleweight star from Mexico, is prepping for hard-hitting countryman Alfredo Angulo, while Ricardo, 32, will face hammer-fisted WBC lightweight titleholder Omar Figueroa.

Ricardo Alvarez will be competing on American soil for only the second time on March 8 at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where Canelo was dethroned as RING 154-pound champion following a majority decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September.

Canelo was ringside in December when Ricardo won his American debut by majority decision over Rod Salka, and will be making his 10th appearance in the United States, having fought at the MGM four times.

The younger brother counsels the older one with his own experiences.

"Of course, the advice that I've always given him and that I will continue to give him is to concentrate on the fight and to concentrate on himself in the ring," said Canelo Alvarez.

"For the moment, to block out the people and the fans, the television and the big arena. You have to block all of that out and and concentrate just on what's in front of you and for that moment, feel like you're at home. For that moment, you've always been there, and that's the advice that I give him."

Ricardo Alvarez has absorbed his younger brother's relative wisdom, while also passing on his own.

"We've been training together, and we've been in camp together, so there's moments where we give each other advice and where we work on technique to help each other versus our opponents. We're both very excited about the meaning of this for both of us, coming out with a victory and the significance of it for the both of us," Ricardo Alvarez said from their training facility in San Diego, Calif., on Tuesday.

"I'm very happy, I'm very motivated to be fighting in the most important fight of my life. It's just the biggest and most important fight of my life and in my career at this point. Not only that, to be fighting in arena that I'm going to be fight in, and where everybody wants to fight. Of course, to be on the undercard of such a great main event, and to be under my brother, that's all contributing to my motivation, and excitement. I'm very happy to be here."

But being there, alone, is will not be enough for the brothers Alvarez, whose opponents are durable, determined and powerful.

When Canelo Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 knockouts) headlines the Showtime Pay Per View tripleheader against Angulo (22-3, 18 KOs), he could be in against the biggest, strongest and hardest-punching rival he has ever faced.

In Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KOs), Ricardo Alvarez (23-2-3, 14 KOs) will be in against a man whose trainer, Joel Diaz, claims that his fighter can stop him within five rounds. Figueroa has expressed confidence that he can do just that.

"Their styles are very similar, which is that they're fighters with the characteristics of going forward and looking for the fight and going toe-to-toe, so we could have two, similar bouts. As far as the comments made by Figueroa, I congratulate him. That means that he's training well, and that he has confidence, and that he believes in what he's doing," said Ricardo Alvarez.

"But I also believe in what I've done, and I'm also a fighter that doesn't look for a step back and I like to go forward, and I've prepared myself very well. I'm used to that. It's part of boxing. People talk and make those kinds of comments. But you know what? My talking will be done in the ring, where it should be done."

Meawhile, Angulo has had sparring sessions with former junior welterweight beltholder Amir Khan to make adjustments for speed, as well as against RING 168-pound champion Andre Ward, with whom he shares trainer, Virgil Hunter. 

In his last bout, in June, Angulo scored two knockdowns during a brutal and dramatic 10th-round stoppage loss to Erislandy Lara.

"The times that I did box with him, he's a very good fighter. He's got a lot of talent and experience. He's got a lot of qualities that are superior to Canelo's," Angulo said of Ward during an interview with RingTV.com. "So I know that it's helping me. To be able to be in there with Andre Ward, it's a plus for me, and it's a positive."

Canelo Alvarez welcomes the challenge of an improved Angulo.

"That's awesome. That's great. I'm grateful that he's preparing himself very well," said Canelo Alvarez. "I will let you know that I'm preparing myself very well as well. So that just gets me pleased that when we come up to the fight that we're going to have fun and we're have to have a great fight."