By J. Calderon: It appears that former WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KO’s) is on track to replace retired former five-division world champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26 KO’s), not as the next PPV attraction, but as the biggest villain in boxing.
Alvarez, 25, has been barraged relentlessly this week by boxing fans and critics alike, after Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya announced that they will be going after the weakest link in the 154 lb. division: WBO light middleweight champion Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 13 KO’s). Some argue that this could be a cherry-pick gone wrong for Oscar, others are perplexed by the baffling and unwarranted rumored purchase price of $70, arguing that they wouldn’t tune in if this was a free fight.
Speaking of free fights, and straight from the Dan Rafael rumor mill: Oscar De La Hoya has scheduled the date of Dec. 10 for Alvarez to fight on regular HBO. It seems as though Oscar has the “road to GGG” all mapped out, and is overlooking Canelo’s next fight, as should we.
You can only imagine who Oscar will drag up in weight or weight-drain next, to face Canelo in December. If and when, Canelo is successful in beating Liam Smith, expect him to receive at least two voluntary defenses by the WBO. Since his fight on Dec 10. is scheduled for regular HBO, we can bet the house that we won’t be tuning in to a super-fight. Also, a considerable amount of the boxing public is speculating that Canelo might not even be able to melt back down to 154. Canelo hasn’t fought below his special weight class of 155, since Sept. 14, 2013, in another super-fight dud against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
If Canelo fails to make weight come fight night, I just wouldn’t know what to say anymore. It has become increasingly difficult to be a supporter of Canelo and Oscar, in recent weeks, and another scandal will surely shatter whatever is left of Canelo’s marketability. I suppose it would be back to 155, maybe 157, for Canelo? Who would he then take on Dec. 10, and on next year’s Cinco de Mayo weekend, before the dreaded end-of-the-road matchup against WBC/WBA/IBF/IBO middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KO’s), next September? I suspect that the answer to that question lies within the Canelo vs. Khan undercard.
Prior to the main event, middleweight contender Curtis “Showtime” Stevens (28-5, 21 KO’s) obliterated a hopelessly over-matched, yet undefeated, Patrick Teixeira (26-1, 22 KO’s). Stevens and Teixeira, are both promoted by none other than Golden Boy Promotions. This was the perfect matchup for Oscar. If Teixeira won, he’d be undefeated and with a win over a former Golovkin opponent. If Stevens won, well, you have a tailor-made, past his best, former Golovkin opponent to look good against. Stevens came out immediately landing hooks to the body of Teixeira, and buckled his knees with a very stiff jab towards the middle of the first round. One minute into the second round, Teixeira threw an over-hand left uppercut and was countered by a violently disastrous left jab-right hook combination by Stevens, that effectively flat lined him into the canvas and ended the bout via TKO.
Now, are there any other fighters, preferably promoted by Golden Boy, that aren’t considered a significant threat at middleweight? Ladies and gentleman, please welcome, Canelo’s second cookie-cut opponent: two-time world title challenger Gabe “King” Rosado (23-9, 13 KO’s). Rosado might have the heart of Rocky Balboa, but unfortunately is seen by many as nothing more than a punching bag at 160. It doesn’t seem like he has improved much since hiring former two-time light middleweight champion Fernando “Ferocious” Vargas (26-5, 22 KO’s) as his trainer. Rosado tasted the canvas, and won a razor-thin unanimous decision against little-known contender Antonio Gutierrez (20-2-1, 9 KO’s), earlier last month. Oscar, you are a marinating genius! You are going to put Canelo in with Golovkin’s left-overs in the meantime, to silent all of the critics, aren’t you? I can picture it now, highlight reel after highlight reel of Golovkin and Canelo knocking out the same two guys, and one looking better than the other in doing so.
Hold on, but what if Canelo actually does make 154 against Liam Smith and continues to make 154 afterwards and stays at light middleweight for the next year? Who will he fight then? This is where Oscar will really have to use that brilliant mind of his to come up with two beatable and look-good opponents for Canelo at 154. Oscar, will likely not give WBA/IBO light middleweight champion Erislandy “The Dream” Lara (23-2-2, 13 KO’s) or former WBA (regular) light middleweight champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout (30-3, 17 KO’s) a second crack at Canelo, especially after two close and controversial decision wins. Former WBO light middleweight champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (23-0, 16 KO’s), WBC light middleweight champion Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo (28-0, 13 KO’s), and IBF light middleweight champion Jermall “Hitman” Charlo (24-0, 18 KO’s) are all tremendous threats, who will not allow Canelo to look good, even if he wins, and might just spoil the Golovkin mega-fight. However, what about two-time world title challenger Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosyan (36-3-1, 21 KO’s)?
Vanes has already been beaten by Erislandy Lara, Jermell Charlo, and Demetrius Andrade, right? True, but Vanes is no push-over either. The first fight against Lara went to the cards and was declared a technical draw in round 9, due to an arguably accidental clash of heads that opened a nasty cut above Vanes’ left eye. Lara, who was seemingly out-boxing Vanes, was criticized by many for using dirty rough-house tactics, having low-blowed and head-butted Vanes multiple times throughout the fight. The rematch was somewhat similar, with Vanes pressuring Lara with left hooks to the liver and winning the early rounds, before fading down the stretch and low-blowing Lara a couple of times in the process. Andrade was knocked down by a powerful short-left hook from Vanes in round one of their fight, before recovering and gaining control down the stretch as well. In addition, Vanes gave Jermell Charlo plenty of problems in a closely contested chess match, a little over a month ago.
Vanes Martirosyan is the perfect match to gauge how Canelo might perform against the other top dogs at 154. Who would then be selected as Canelo’s second opponent at 154 after Vanes? I’m going to assume that Oscar might resort to importing another UK welterweight like IBF welterweight champion Kell “Special K” Brook (35-0, 26 KO’s) to 154 to keep Canelo out of harm’s way. So, there you have it. If Canelo stays at 154, he might fight Vanes in December on regular HBO, and then import Kell Brook to 154 for a UK PPV money-grab fight on Cinco De Mayo. If Canelo simply can’t cut the extra pound, then expect him to make catchweight deals between 155-157 with Rosado and Stevens to prep him for GGG. Although, I’m not sure which one of those two he would fight on PPV and which one on regular HBO, since they are neither big names. Regardless, all roads lead to Golovkin come Sept. 2017.