Saul Alvarez vs. Javier Bardem

The other night Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez made his ringwalk to a song from the American movie “Rocky IV.” If you were thinking Crossover Appeal, well done. I’ve long thought there was a better song for him, though: “Güero Canelo” by Calexico, an Arizona band.

But then I checked the lyrics. The song might be about a Tucson restaurant and the general crime that happens in the southern part of its city, or maybe not. Whatever it’s about, “Güero Canelo” features an exhaustive list of narcotics. It’s probably better, then, that a Mexican star not precede his performances with a song like that.

Saturday night in the Mexican state of Veracruz in a venue called Estadio Beto Avila, Jalisco’s Alvarez won a unanimous decision over South African Lovemore N’dou by scores of 120-108, 120-108 and 119-109. N’dou fought like a good sparring partner should, trying to win no more than 30 of the match’s 2,160 seconds. And the Veracruzanos went home certain they’d seen a future great.

Since we won’t know about that for a long time, let’s go back to the Calexico tune.

Did you catch 2004’s “Collateral” with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx? If so, “Güero Canelo” was the song that played for the dancing Sinaloans in the scene at El Rodeo night club. If not, here’s a touch of back story.

Vincent is a hit man played by Cruise. He climbs in a taxi driven by Max, a cabbie played by Jamie Foxx. Max learns the destinations to which he is chauffeuring Vincent are actually hits, witnesses for the prosecution in a drug case set to begin the next day, and demurs. Eventually, he also trashes Vincent’s witness work-ups, with two hits to go. Vincent sends Max into a Mexican club called El Rodeo to pretend he is Vincent and retrieve work-ups on the two remaining witnesses.

And this is where most American moviegoers meet actor Javier Bardem for the first time. Bearded and elegant, Bardem plays a Mexican narcotraficante named Felix. Enraged by “Vincent’s” having lost the work-ups, Felix tells a wonderfully imaginative story about Santa Claus’s special helper in Mexico named “Pedro el Negro.” And Bardem shows incredible presence.

Despite being the first Spanish actor ever nominated for an Oscar, four years before, Bardem was cast in what might have been a five-minute throw-away scene in the middle of an action movie in 2004 – his first American work in two years, at the time.

Not exactly Saul Alvarez’s career path.

After a shaky opening to his own American debut in May on the undercard of “Who R U Picking?” – when the 19-year-old Mexican was temporarily walked down Queer Street by Jose Miguel Cotto (yes, the other Cotto) – Alvarez rallied and won by TKO in round 9. A couple months ago, Alvarez also blasted his way through Carlos Baldomir. Saturday he was a red-headed rock star whose girlfriend got about as much camera time as N’dou’s corner did.

That old saw about nothing attracting a crowd like a crowd perfectly captures the reflexivity that feeds the hype machine and so, too, aptly captures Alvarez’s celebrity. Fight aficionados, of course, want an organic star, someone who learns his craft in obscurity before emerging properly seasoned, preferably in an upset – someone like Michael Medina, Dmitry Pirog or Sergio Martinez. Promoters, and the casual fans they hope to feed, want something else entirely.

They want someone who’s equipped for immediate stardom if not pugilistic excellence. Someone like, say, Alvarez. Golden Boy Promotions, whose eye for talent gets blackened by reality here and there, needed a Mexican prospect to offset rival promoter Top Rank’s cynical celebration of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., son of Mexico’s fistic legend. The country’s other famous Juniors all had a loss or three on their records. And HBO hates that.

“Canelo” is good-looking, undefeated, and of Mexican origin, so he became the next Oscar De La Hoya.

Look, Alvarez is a good fighter. He has uncommonly powerful legs for a junior middleweight. His footwork is serviceable. He counters right hands fairly well after nibbling on them. His punches are straight and committed.

But he’s slow-handed more than heavy-handed. N’dou, a 39-year-old man whose best days came at 140 pounds, was not in trouble for a moment against the 154-pound Alvarez, Saturday. Alvarez showed characteristics of a young fighter accustomed to blowing through overmatched opponents. He threw lead hooks and paused after they landed, expecting N’dou to be felled instantly.

Perhaps Alvarez will become Mexico’s next legend. Right now, though, his celebrity feels wholly manufactured.

A month before his 18-line performance as the narcotraficante Felix, Javier Bardem arrived in the United States as a semi-obscure foreign actor. He spent five weeks perfecting the differences between English spoken with a Mexican accent and English spoken with his Spanish one. Then he made an unforgettable performance. And today, American moviegoers know him as the Oscar-winning actor from “No Country for Old Men” – a role that still didn’t come for three years after “Collateral.”

Bardem’s celebrity feels a bit more authentic by comparison, doesn’t it?

One other thing about “Canelo”: He’s only 20 years-old, and he’s had 36 professional fights. That point was rehearsed and exuberantly retold numerous times by HBO Latino’s commentators Saturday. Well.

The last time we heard about such a young sensation from Mexico, his name was Julio Cesar Garcia, and his nickname was “Baby Face.” Garcia was 40-2 (34 KOs) on his 20th birthday. He’s 1-2 in the three years since then. And before you think De La Hoya will be the difference for Alvarez, remember that Garcia had Roberto Duran.

Saturday’s fight, lastly, was Alvarez’s second defense of an esteemed WBC Silver title. WBC Silver, you’re thinking, who else has a silly title like that? Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., actually.

A proposal, then: Alvarez and Chavez Jr. fight to determine whom we should take seriously going forward – and the loser stays in Mexico to defend the silver.

Bart Barry can be reached at bbarry@15rounds.com. Additionally, his book, “The Legend of Muhammad Ali,” co-written with Thomas Hauser, can be purchased here.