Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., 11" X 14", watercolor and acrylic paint on cold press paper. Art by Coyote Duran.

When the 164.5 pound catchweight battle between THE RING Magazine middleweight/WBO junior middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and former WBC middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was made, quite a few fans laughed themselves into hysterics. With Canelo seemingly trying to find any excuse not to fight undefeated IBF/WBA/WBC titlist Gennady Golovkin, while Chavez is two fights removed from a stoppage loss to Andzrej Fonfara two years ago (not to mention having discipline issues), long-suffering fight fanatics looked to have had it, once and for all.

Now, two days away from the actual fight, live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, broadcast on HBO Pay-Per-View (supported by what looks to be a solid undercard stacked with young talent), this fight doesn't sound so bad. In fact, especially being hosted on Cinco de Mayo weekend, the national pride is at an all-time high. Who wins? Who eventually rebuilds? With many fans, the question is, "Who cares?" The mutual acrimony should (keyword: should) conjure a bloodbath.


So, here's my tribute to Canelo and the Son of the Legend, Julio Cesar Chavez himself. Watercolor and acrylic paint on 11" X 14" cold press paper. I went outside my comfort zone for this one, this time around, and offered nothing but the two sides of the peso, backed up by - and rendered in nothing but - the colors of the Mexican flag, surrounded by a bloody outline. I hope you dig it!

Bueno suerte, chicos! Viva Mexico!

Oh, here's some process shots via the Instagram!

#WorkInProgress: Now that all my #commissions are out of the way (and this means now is the time to get in line, if you have a #portrait in mind!), it's time to get back on the #boxing #art trail! With that, here's the start of a super-tight pre-#watercolor #paint (on my new #StrathmoreArt #ColdPressPaper) #pencil #layout of my new #CaneloAlvarez vs. #JulioCesarChavezJr piece! I REALLY think all y'all will dig this one! #WIP #BoxingArt #BoxingArtist #Artist #Drawing #Portraiture #Sketch #AlvinDrafting #CoyoteDuran #CreationNation #ArtLife #CaneloChavezJr #ChavezJrCanelo #Champions #Illustration #ArtLife #Boxeo

A post shared by Coyote Duran (@coyoteduran) on Apr 13, 2017 at 8:52am PDT

#WorkInProgress: Here's the continuation of a super-tight pre-#watercolor #paint (on my new #StrathmoreArt #ColdPressPaper) #pencil #layout of my new #CaneloAlvarez vs. #JulioCesarChavezJr piece! (I think you can see where this is going.) I REALLY think all y'all will dig this one! #WIP #Boxing #Art #BoxingArt #BoxingArtist #Artist #Drawing #Portraiture #Sketch #AlvinDrafting #CoyoteDuran #CreationNation #ArtLife #CaneloChavezJr #ChavezJrCanelo #Champions #Illustration #Boxeo

A post shared by Coyote Duran (@coyoteduran) on Apr 14, 2017 at 8:03am PDT

#WorkInProgress: Here's the continuation of my #CaneloAlvarez vs. #JulioCesarChavezJr #watercolor #painting (#StrathmoreArt #ColdPressPaper)! I REALLY think all y'all will dig this one! #WIP #Boxing #Art #BoxingArt #BoxingArtist #Artist #Drawing #Portraiture #Sketch #CoyoteDuran #CreationNation #ArtLife #CaneloChavezJr #ChavezJrCanelo #Champions #Illustration #Boxeo #Mexico #Campeones #Pentel #WaterBrush

A post shared by Coyote Duran (@coyoteduran) on Apr 21, 2017 at 2:53pm PDT

#WorkInProgress: Here's the continuation of my #CaneloAlvarez vs. #JulioCesarChavezJr #watercolor #painting (#StrathmoreArt #ColdPressPaper)! Here, my trademark thick outline is accented in #BLOOD! #WIP #Boxing #Art #BoxingArt #BoxingArtist #Artist #Drawing #Portraiture #Sketch #CoyoteDuran #CreationNation #ArtLife #CaneloChavezJr #ChavezJrCanelo #Champions #Illustration #Boxeo #Mexico #Campeones #Paint #Pentel #WaterBrush

A post shared by Coyote Duran (@coyoteduran) on Apr 21, 2017 at 8:12pm PDT

#WorkInProgress: Here's the continuation of my #CaneloAlvarez vs. #JulioCesarChavezJr #watercolor #painting (#StrathmoreArt #ColdPressPaper)! #WIP #Boxing #Art #BoxingArt #BoxingArtist #Artist #Drawing #Portraiture #Sketch #CoyoteDuran #CreationNation #ArtLife #CaneloChavezJr #ChavezJrCanelo #Champions #Illustration #Boxeo #Mexico #Campeones #Paint #Pentel #WaterBrush

A post shared by Coyote Duran (@coyoteduran) on Apr 22, 2017 at 4:08pm PDT

#WorkInProgress: Here's the continuation of my #CaneloAlvarez vs. #JulioCesarChavezJr #watercolor #painting (#StrathmoreArt #ColdPressPaper)! #WIP #Boxing #Art #BoxingArt #BoxingArtist #Artist #Drawing #Portraiture #Sketch #CoyoteDuran #CreationNation #ArtLife #CaneloChavezJr #ChavezJrCanelo #Champions #Illustration #Boxeo #Mexico #Campeones #Paint #Pentel #WaterBrush

A post shared by Coyote Duran (@coyoteduran) on Apr 24, 2017 at 3:31pm PDT

#WorkInProgress: (Pushing color values and shading!) Here's the continuation of my #CaneloAlvarez vs. #JulioCesarChavezJr #watercolor #painting (#StrathmoreArt #ColdPressPaper)! #WIP #Boxing #Art #BoxingArt #BoxingArtist #Artist #Drawing #Portraiture #Sketch #CoyoteDuran #CreationNation #ArtLife #CaneloChavezJr #ChavezJrCanelo #Champions #Illustration #Boxeo #Mexico #Campeones #Paint #Pentel #WaterBrush

A post shared by Coyote Duran (@coyoteduran) on Apr 28, 2017 at 2:44pm PDT

#WorkInProgress: (STILL not finished yet! I added #acrylic green, white and red paint to the piece to strengthen and solidify the #Mexican flag's colors.) Here's the continuation of my #CaneloAlvarez vs. #JulioCesarChavezJr #painting (#watercolor and acrylic on #StrathmoreArt #ColdPressPaper, complete with a cold #beer to your right!)! #WIP #Boxing #Art #BoxingArt #BoxingArtist #Artist #Drawing #Portraiture #Sketch #CoyoteDuran #CaneloChavezJr #Champions #Illustration #Boxeo #MillerHighLife #Mexico #Paint #Pentel #WaterBrush #Mexico

A post shared by Coyote Duran (@coyoteduran) on Apr 30, 2017 at 2:00pm PDT

Questions? Comments? Complaints? Commissions? Hit me up at coyote@coyoteduran.com. You can also follow me at twitter.com/CoyoteDuran, instagram.com/coyoteduran and facebook.com/CDCreationNation.