(Photo Credit: Gene Blevins/Tom Hogan Photography/Golden Boy Promotions) By Dan Ambrose: In a sign that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) is starting to become aware of all the criticism that has been leveled at him for his comments he’s made recently about wanting to fight Gennady Golovkin at a catch-weight of 155 pounds, Canelo is now saying that he’s not afraid of anyone.
Canelo also says that he’ll be moving onto the next big fight once he gets past WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) in their fight on November 21st on HBO PPV from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I am not afraid of any fighter, but right now I am focused on Cotto. Once this fight is over we can move on to the next big fight,” Canelo said.
I think Canelo would find that a lot of boxing fans would argue strongly that he is afraid of one fighter in particular in Golovkin. Fans think that if Canelo really is unafraid of fighting anyone, then why is he speaking about needing a catch-weight for a fight against Golovkin? Further, why is Canelo saying that he can fight Golovkin someday down the road in the future?
It doesn’t make sense for Canelo to push the Golovkin fight down the road when it’s the best possible fight out there for him right now, provided that he gets past Cotto on November 21st.
If Canelo can’t win that fight then there’s no sense in bringing Golovkin’s name up because Canelo will be on a likely two year plan to try and rebuild his career the way he spent the last two years trying to rebuild his name after a 12 round decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013.
“I want to fight the big fights and am not afraid to take risks,” Canelo said. “I believe my fighting style and opponents over the years have shown that. I am here to prove I am the best and the best way to do that is fighting the best.”
Cotto isn’t considered to be the best at 160. In fact, Cotto still hasn’t fought at 160. He won the WBC middleweight title in beating 39-year-old Sergio Martinez by a 10th round knockout in 2014 to win the title at a catch-weight. Cotto then fought at a catch-weight in his first title defense against Daniel Geale.
If Canelo can get past Cotto, then the best fight for him is Golovkin. If Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya isn’t going to put them back together for a second fight, then the only real option is Golovkin. However, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum spilled the beans recently when he said that he’s had talks with De La Hoya about matching Canelo against the winner of the Brandon Rios vs. Timothy Bradley fight.
That would be a fight that would make the hulking Canelo look kind of like a bully because he would have such a huge weight advantage over Rios and Bradley. Even if those guys moved up to junior middleweight to take the fight, they would be little more than pumped up welterweights.
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