By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA/WBC light middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) has reportedly suffered an ankle injury, and he won’t be able to fight 37-year-old former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey on December 6th, according to Golden Boy Promotions.
There’s no word whether the 24-year-old Canelo will attempt to reschedule the fight for a later date, but you’d have to assume that he’s going to stay out of the ring until he faces WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto next May on Cinco de Mayo in 2015.
Here’s what the Golden Boy press release said about Canelo:
”Due to a persistent ankle injury, Canelo Alvarez must withdraw from his December 6 bout. He thanks his fans for their support and looks forward to big things in 2015 on HBO. Golden Boy Promotions and HBO are reviewing their options for the December 6 date.
Of course, some boxing fans will see this move by Canelo being a kneejerk reaction to the huge negative reaction from fans towards his fight against Clottey. Not too many fans received the news of Canelo fighting Clottey with a great deal of happiness.
Indeed, many fans were totally turned off towards the idea of Canelo fighting Clottey even though the fight was going to be televised on regular HBO and not on pay-per-view. Fans expect more from the 24-year-old Canelo considering that he’s supposed to be the face of boxing in the future once Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao hang up their gloves.
If Canelo is going to replace the likes of Mayweather as the No.1 fighter in the sport then Canelo will need to face the tough challenges like Mayweather has done throughout his career. Fans wanted to see Canelo fight James Kirkland or Gennady Golovkin for his December 6th fight, not the 37-year-old Clottey.
It’s still possible that Canelo could take a tune-up fight in early 2015 to get himself ready for the Cotto fight, but I doubt that will be the case. It’s too dangerous for Canelo to take a fight that close to an important fight like the Cotto fight.
If Canelo were to get cut or injured in some way, it would mean that the Cotto fight would need to be pushed into the future away from the Cinco de Mayo holiday, which is when Canelo wants to fight in order to take advantage of his Mexican fans celebrating the holiday.
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