By Eric Baldwin: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez posted a message on his social media site saying that he won’t be fighting for the remainder of 2016, and when he does come back in 2017, he’ll be “hungrier” and ready for the big fights. What those big fights are is anyone’s guess.
Canelo hasn’t been taking the big fights lately with him facing a welterweight in Amir Khan last May and then facing what many boxing fans saw as the weakest of the world champions in the 154lb division in his fight against Liam Smith last Saturday night at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Canelo’s promoters plan on having him fight three times in 2017 with him possibly fighting in January, and then definitely fighting in May on Cinco de Mayo and then in September on the Mexican Independence Day holiday weekend.
I'll rest for the remainder of 2016 & recover from my injury. Be back in 2017 hungrier & in big fights as always. Thanks for the well wishes
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) September 20, 2016
Well, when Canelo does come back in 2017, I hope he makes a big upgrade in the opposition he’s facing. I don’t think the boxing fans are going to be too happy if Canelo comes back and continues to raid the welterweight and junior middleweight divisions for guys like Amir Khan and Liam Smith instead of looking to get the “big fights” as he says. You can understand why Canelo is letting the Golovkin fight marinate, but you can’t understand why he’s not fighting the other talented fighters like Daniel Jacobs, the Charlo brothers, Julian Williams, Erislandy Lara and Demetrius Andrade.
It is surprising how quickly Canelo is leaving the 154lb division after winning the WBO 154lb division off Smith. You would think that Canelo would stay and defend his WBO title two of three times. Some boxing fans think the only reason why Canelo is moving up to the middleweight division to avoid unbeaten Demetrius Andrade, considering that he’s the #2 ranked contender in the World Boxing Organization’s top 15 ranking.
Right now, the junior middleweight division is more dangerous for Canelo than the middleweight division when you exclude Daniel Jacobs and Golovkin. If Canelo were to stay at 154, he would be pressured to face Andrade, the Charlo brothers, Julian Williams and Erislandy Lara.
HBO analyst Roy Jones Jr. says he understands why Canelo hasn’t faced Golovkin yet. He doesn’t see him to blame for the fight not taking place. According to Jones, Canelo doesn’t want to move without his promoters being ready for the fight.
Jones said to IFL TV:
“He told you he has a team,” said Jones in sounding almost apologetic for Canelo not fighting Golovkin. “He can’t do nothing until his team decides that they all want to do it. He’s on board with being patient, waiting what his team says. I you think about it. If you look at what Floyd [Mayweather Jr.] did by milking and waiting and waiting for the [Manny] Pacquiao fight and making it the biggest fight in the history of boxing. So of course they’re going to try and take a page out of the book and wait and wait and wait. They just don’t want to over-wait with people losing interest. Triple G is a dangerous fight for big reasons. Triple G is going to pin you against the ropes, so you might as well get used to it. So he did exactly what he needs to do. I understand they’re waiting for the middle of next year. That’s all they can do. If [Sergey] Kovalev beats [Andre] Ward, who else is there to fight besides [Adonis] Stevenson, and if he don’t [want to fight Kovalev], and Triple G wants to prove he’s the best, go take that. That’s what Roy Jones would have done. He’s [Canelo] not afraid to fight Triple G. He just doesn’t want to move without his team. He had 51,000 here tonight. They’ll know [when to fight Golovkin], because at a certain point if they don’t do it, they’re losing,” said Jones.
When asked if he likes the idea of Canelo fighting Willie Monroe Jr. next, Jones said, “No, it would be a horrible fight for Canelo and for Willie Monroe.”
It would be a welcome change if Canelo comes back in 2017 and all of sudden wants the “big fights” in real life rather than him just saying he wants them and then turning around and fighting another welterweight or paper champion. It’s already out there that Canelo could be soon facing WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders in early 2017 if Golovkin doesn’t get to him first. You can argue that Saunders is the middleweight division’s version of Liam Smith. This wouldn’t be a “big fight” if Canelo takes on Saunders. It would be more of a continuation of the type of opposition that he’s been fighting lately.