Mayweather wants Canelo to fight Carlos Molina next for IBF 154 lb. title

By Boxing News - 09/16/2013 - Comments

canelo64By Allan Fox: Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26 KO’s) is hoping that former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) will be agreeable to fighting newly crowned IBF 154 lb. title holder Carlos Molina (22-5-2, 6 KO’s) for his IBF strap next. Molina defeated Ishe Smith by a 12 round split decision last Saturday night on “The One” undercard a the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mayweather said to USA Today “This is one of the best pound-for-pound champions in the world today, and before long he’ll be a champion again. Actually, I’d like to see Canelo fight Molina…that would be good for his next fight, to get his confidence back. He’s a young champion and he fought his heart out tonight.”

It’s not known whether Molina had to sign with Mayweather Promotions in order to get the title shot against Ishe Smith. If so, then it makes sense for Mayweather to want Canelo to fight Molina, because that would make for a big fight that Mayweather Promotions would be involved with.

Barring that, Canelo might be better off fighting for the WBO junior middleweight title if Demetrius Andrade defeats Vanes Martirosyan. It’s doubtful that Golden Boy Promotions will have Canelo fight Martirosyan if he beats Andrade because he’s a Top Rank fighter, and Golden Boy likely won’t be eager to make that fight happen.

Mayweather seems to be trying to charm Canelo all of a sudden by talking about how he still sees him as a future star, and one of the guys that will carry the sport into the future. With the way that Mayweather is praising Canelo, it makes you wonder whether Mayweather is hoping to get Canelo to fight some of his Mayweather Promotions fighters in the future or to have Canelo possibly agree to fight on Mayweather’s next undercard on May 3rd during the Cinco de Mayo holiday.

It makes sense for Canelo to fight on Cinco de Mayo, but if he fights on a separate card it’s going to end up competing with Mayweather’s fight on the same night. Unless Canelo wants to end up with fewer numbers, he’s either going to have to agree to fight on Mayweather’s undercard on Cinco de Mayor or simply not fight on that date at all.

With the huge amount of Mexican fans that will be tuning in to watch boxing during Cinco de Mayo, it’s not likely that Canelo will choose not to fight on that date. The only question is will it be on Mayweather’s undercard or not.

Canelo vs. Carlos Molina does make a lot of sense for Cinco de Mayo when you think about it. Two Mexican fighters facing each other for the IBF 154 lb. title. It’s actually a better fight than Canelo vs. Andrade as far as drumming fan interest. Canelo-Adrade is the better fight, but it won’t likely attract as many fans as Canelo vs. Molina.



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