De La Hoya confirms Canelo to fight Joshua Clottey on 12/6

By Boxing News - 09/30/2014 - Comments

canelo667By Dan Ambrose: Oscar De La Hoys of Golden Boy Promotions has confirmed that former WBA/WBC light middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1 31 KOs) will be back in the ring on December 6th against former IBF 147lb belt holder Joshua Clottey (38-4, 22 KOs), says Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.

The news is big letdown from some boxing fans who feel that Clottey isn’t a worthy opponent to be facing Canelo, even though Canelo is no longer a champion after he was beaten last year by Floyd Mayweather Jr. Clottey still isn’t seen as a worthy opponent for Canenlo because his career has kind of dropped off in the last 4 years after he lost to Manny Pacquiao.

James Kirkland is the guy that most fans wanted to see Canelo fight next. If Canelo was still with Showtime, it’s unlikely that they would have blessed this fight because it’s too much of a mismatch in favor of Canelo.

One would hope this isn’t the beginning of how things are going to be for Canelo now that he’s fighting on HBO. We already saw Canelo fight Alfredo Angulo last March in a mismatch, and now Canelo is fighting Clottey, who by the way will be turning 37 in October.

Kirkland was likely deemed too dangerous for Canelo to fight. If Golden Boy wanted him for the Canelo fight then they would have gotten him. If Canelo wanted Kirkland then he could have gotten him because he has the power to pick his own opponents now. But perhaps Canelo is now playing it safe himself after the scare he got in his last fight against Erislandy Lara, who arguably beat Canelo but then found himself on the receiving end of a controversial decision loss to the popular red-headed fighter.

“Oscar De La Hoya, at a media roundtable at HBO, confirms that it will be Canelo Alvarez-Josh Clottey in December,” Chris Mannix said on his twitter.

The Clottey-Canelo fight is one that will ensure that Canelo gets to a potential big money fight against WBC 160lb champion Miguel Cotto in one piece next year. But then again, it’s hard to say what an easy or safe fight is for Canelo anymore because he’s struggled badly in 3 out of his last 4 fights.

If Clottey can rejuvenate himself and find the guy that was at the top of his game in 2008 when he beat Zab Judah then it’s possible that he could beat Canelo and effectively ruin his hopes for a Cotto fight.

Clottey has been going downhill unfortunately since his loss to Cotto in 2009. Clottey had a chance to win that fight by stood with his back against the ropes like a sparring partner for the last 4 rounds of the fight. In Clottey’s loss to Manny Pacquiao in 2010, Clottey stood with his back against the ropes for the full 12 rounds of the fight. Clottey resembled a sparring partner rather than a title challenger in that fight.



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