Canelo: I will not move off the May 2nd date

By Boxing News - 12/22/2014 - Comments

canelo7657By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez may not be anywhere near the popularity or the talent level of Floyd Mayweather Jr, but that’s not keeping the red-haired Canelo from budging from the May 2nd date that he plans on fighting.

The May 2nd date falls on Cinco de Mayo, and that’s a date that Mayweather has been fighting on for the last five years. However, Canelo says that date is one of the Mexican holiday dates, and he’s stubbornly not going to move off the date even though he doesn’t bring in anywhere near the same pay-per-view numbers that Mayweather does.

“It’s very important to have the support of Oscar De La Hoya,” Canelo said to estoenlinea.oem.com.mx. “It is a very important date for me and I will not move it. I’m retaking the Mexican dates because they are very important to us and we are appointed to it to fight in May and September.”

Canelo might not still end up getting bumped off one or even both of those Mexican dates. If the Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr fight gets made, then Canelo can forget all about fighting on Cinco de Mayo, at least on major pay-per-view, because it’s not going to happen. Even if Canelo does get the May holiday date, it doesn’t mean he’s going to get the September date.

Canelo will likely need to fight someone very, very good like Pacquiao or Gennady Golovkin next September if he wants to boot Mayweather off that date. If Canelo gets beaten by Miguel Cotto in May, then it’s very doubtful that De La Hoya will throw him in the ring with Golovkin or Pacquiao in his very next fight. What we’ll likely see instead of Canelo get put in with another Alfredo Angulo type opponent to pad his resume more and to give him another confident booster, as if that will make any real difference.

They can give Canelo never-ending confidence booster opponents like Angulo, but he’s still going to major problems if he gets put in the ring with the likes of Golovkin or Pacquiao. It’s about talent rather than confidence when you face guys like that. If you don’t have the talent then you’re going to get beaten.
“I’m ready to face Cotto, but he’s not the only option.”

This is Canelo’s way of telling Cotto that he’s not going to be able to control the negotiations, I guess. Unless Canelo’s backup plan is Golovkin, then I think Cotto really is his only option for May 2nd. Once Cotto is out of the picture, then Canelo will get bumped off the May 2nd date by Mayweather even if he faces someone like Kell Brook or Amir Khan.

Mayweather doesn’t need a really big name to face him on May 2nd if Canelo isn’t facing Cotto. It’s not as Golden Boy is going to put Golovkin in with Canelo at this point. They’re not going to take that risk until after Canelo has faced Cotto, and even then there’s big questions whether De La Hoya will say yes to a dangerous fight like that for his fighter.

De La Hoya thinks Canelo is going to be boxing’s biggest pay-per-view star for the next 10 years. That’s not going to be the reality if Canelo gets chopped up by Golovkin. That’s why Canelo really doesn’t have much of any choice for his May 2nd date. It’s Cotto or another soft job like Angulo, and if he fights another soft job, Canelo will get bumped off May 2nd. He absolutely needs Cotto to bump Mayweather off the Mexican holiday on May 2nd.



Comments are closed.