Saul Alvarez needs a new opponent for his September 15th date on PPV

By Boxing News - 05/28/2012 - Comments

Image: Saul Alvarez needs a new opponent for his September 15th date on PPVBy Dan Ambrose: With Paul Williams’ serious injury on Sunday where he was paralyzed from the waist down in a motorcycle accident in Georgia, WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO’s) and his promoters at Golden Boy are now looking at finding a replacement for that date.

It’s a pay-per-view bout, meaning whoever they fight he’s got to be a fairly popular fighter if they want to register a lot of PPV buys.

James Kirkland, #4 WBC, isn’t expected to be healed in time to take the fight in September. He recently had shoulder surgery from an injury he sustained in his last fight against Carlos Molina, and it’s been slow to heal. Golden Boy might be able to rush him into the fight, but I still doubt he’ll agree to take it if he’s not feeling 100%.

Contenders Erislandy Lara and Vanes Martirosyan are likely going to be ignored by Golden Boy because they would be too much of a jump up in competition from the guys that Alvarez has been facing recently. Alvarez has been taking older past their best fighters like 40-year-old Lovemore N’dou, 40-year-old Shane Mosley, 40-year-old Carlos Baldomir, Ryan Rhodes and Kermit Cintron.

Miguel Cotto likely won’t take the fight because he just finished fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. and he won’t be rushed back into training camp to be ready for September 15th. That’s not going to happen. Cotto doesn’t need the money that badly, and he needs to rest up before getting ready for a fight at the end of the year.

There’s really no options available for Alvarez unless Golden Boy wants to try and get someone like Carlos Quintana. But even that is a fight that wouldn’t deserve to be on PPV. Can you imagine paying to see Saul Alvarez fight Quintana? I can’t. I know there are certain amount of Alvarez that would pay to see him fight anybody, but Quintana would be a fight where Golden Boy is really lowering the bar.

Golden Boy may have to put the serious pressure on Kirkland to take the fight if they want to salvage this fight date and bring in decent PPV numbers. Since Kirkland would be taking the fight while still recovering from shoulder surgery, Golden Boy might need to pay him more money compared to what he’s been getting in his fights. They need him right now to fight their up and coming star.



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