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One of the most imposing rivals for Canelo Alvarez was Carlos Baldomir, the a rugged, former welterweight titleholder Alvarez faced in September 2010.

Alvarez wound up scoring a sensational sixth-round knockout, doing so against a veteran who had gone the distance in losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the late Vernon Forrest, and whoowned victories against Zab Judah, Joshua Clottey and Arturo Gatti.

But when Alvarez takes on Alfredo Angulo in a 154-pound bout on March 8, the 23-year-old could be in against the biggest, strongest and hardest-punching rival he has ever faced.

Alvarez discussed the Angulo fight among other subjects on Saturday with RingTV.com through translation by Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice president and matchmaker.

"I think that Angulo is much stronger and much bigger than Baldomir. Back then, I was younger and maybe Baldomir thought that he was stronger than me, but that wasn't the case," said Alvarez, the former RING junior middleweight champion.

"I proved that in the ring, even though I was much younger then. But this is different this time. Angulo's very different. I don't see any similarities. He's much stronger, much bigger than Baldomir was. Angulo has his own style, and he's different than everybody, and I'm preparing for him."

ALVAREZ ON FLOYD MAYWEATHER: 'IT JUST WASN'T MY NIGHT'

When Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 knockouts) headlines the Showtime Pay Per View triple-header against Angulo (22-3, 18 KOs), he will do so at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the site of his first career loss to Mayweather last September.

During the interview, Alvarez was offered the comparison of his choice to box the smaller, slicker, more skillful Mayweather rather than attack, to that of  Sugar Ray Leonard’s choice to to go toe-to-toe with the rugged Roberto Duran in their first fight as opposed to using his mobility in their rematch.

Leonard lost his WBC welterweight championship to Duran by unanimous decision in June 1980 but won their return bout and regained the belt by eighth-round technical knockout in November of 1980.

Alvarez offered no excuses for his loss to Mayweather.

"I felt comfortable going into the fight. We had the right game plan, and I was confident. Obviously, it just wasn't my night and things didn't go as we planned or expected. But, you know, that's in the past," said Alvarez. 

"I just think that I'll learn from it. It's in the past. It's hard to really think about whether or not I should have done something different or not. That was my game plan, and it didn't work, and that's in the past. I've learned from it, and it's time to move on."

LEARNING FROM ANGULO'S PAST

A rugged 31-year-old veteran, Angulo has been knocked out twice, each time, by left-handed fighters.

During a bout that featured first-round knockdowns by each boxer, Angulo was stopped in the sixth round by James Kirkland in November 2011.

In his last fight in June, Angulo scored two knockdowns during his exciting 10th-round stoppage loss to Erislandy Lara.

"Angulo is an aggressive fighter, so of course I've looked at those two fights and I've studied them because those are the types of fights that I need to be ready for," said Alvarez.

"There are quite a few things that I have learned from those fights, and I feel that I'm preparing for that type of a style. Angulo is a fighter who is going to come forward and he's very strong and it's going to be a hard fight."

ALVAREZ TO BE 'READY FROM THE OPENING BELL'

Given that Angulo dropped Kirkland first before being floored himself, and that he knocked down Lara in the fourth and ninth rounds, Alvarez said he will be poised for action right from the start. 

"Movement will be very important. I have to be ready from the opening bell. He's a dangerous fighter and I know that," said Alvarez.

"I have my game plan, so movement will be a big part of the strategy but I'm going to be ready from the opening bell. After the opening bell, I have to be ready for his style."

BROTHERLY LOVE

Alvarez was ringside in San Antonio in December when his 32-year-old brother, Ricardo “Dinamita” Alvarez, won his American debut by majority decision over junior welterweight Rod Salka.

On the undercard of his bout with Angulo, Ricardo Alvarez (23-2-3, 14 KOs) will face WBC lightweight titleholder Omar Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KOs).

"More than anything, that motivates me. I'm very happy, of course. I'm very excited about this opportunity," said Alvarez. "Being on the same card as my brother, it motivates both of us. Him fighting for the title and getting this opportunity is a motivator.

"That would be big, very big, especially for Mexico. It would be huge. That's part of our motivation, to do that. That's what we're preparing for, and that's what we're working so hard for. I believe that it's going to happen."

Figueroa's trainer, Joel Diaz, has claimed that his fighter can stop Ricardo Alvarez within five rounds, and Figueroa has expressed confidence that he can do so.

"I don't know if my brother has heard about it, but my brother doesn't worry about that stuff. He does his talking inside of the ring," said Alvarez.

"Everybody can say what they want. But, I do know this, that he is preparing himself very, very well for this fight and he's looking very good and he's got every possibility of winning the fight."

ALVAREZ 'NOT GOING TO WASTE MY TIME TALKING ABOUT' LARA

Lara began taking shots at Alvarez immediately after his December unanimous decision over Austin Trout, whom he floored in the 11th round. Alvarez scored a seventh-round stoppage during his unanimous decision over Trout last April.

"The reality is that if Canelo doesn’t fight me, then Canelo is scared. There are no ifs ands or buts about it," said Lara, during an interview with RingTV.com. "If Canelo doesn’t step up to the plate like he did against Austin Trout, then he’s a joke, plain and simple. He’s a joke."

Alvarez dismissed Lara's assertions on Saturday.

"It doesn't bother me. He can say whatever he wants. He's entitled to his own opinion. I'm sure that the reason that he's talking badly is because he wants to get a fight with me. But that's not the way that you pick fights. Fights are picked differently. But he can say whatever he wants," said Alvarez.

"That doesn't worry me. Right now, I'm concentrating on my next fight. I have a fight with Alfredo Angulo that is going to be a tough fight and I'm not worried about anything else. It doesn't matter. I really don't care whether he's jealous or not. I'm not going to waste time talking about it."

LEO SANTA CRUZ-CRISTIAN MIJARES; JORGE LINARES-NIHITO ARAKAWA

Alvarez-Angulo also includes WBC 122-pound beltholder Leo Santa Cruz (26-0-1, 15 KOs) against Cristian Mijares (49-7-2, 24 KOs) on the Showtime Pay Per View broadcast, while ex-beltholder Jorge Linares (35-3, 23 KOs) is being matched in a Showtime Extreme lightweight bout against Japan's Nihito Arakawa (24-3-1, 16 KOs), the latter of whom rose from the canvas twice during a brutal unanimous decision loss to Figueroa in July.

CHRIS ALGIERI DOMINATES EMMANUEL TAYLOR

Junior welterweight Chris Algieri (19-0, 8 KOs) dominated Emmanuel Taylor (17-2, 12 KOs) for a unanimous decision on Friday night, ending the loser's winning streak at three in Algieri's hometown of Huntington, N.Y.

"This was an outstanding victory for Chris," said Algieri's promoter, Joe DeGuardia. "He truly showed the entire boxing world that he has the skills that compare favorably with any of the top junior welterweights in the world."