By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya hasn’t yet selected the next opponent for Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s next fight in early 2017, but it’s expected to be someone that he’ll have an excellent chance of beating. Canelo suffered a thumb injury in his recent win over WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith last September.
The fracture is supposed to be fully healed for Canelo’s next fight, which could be taking place in February. Canelo’s opponent is going to need to be selected soon so that Golden Boy and HBO Boxing can start building interest in the fight.
Here are the options for Canelo’s next match on HBO:
– David Lemieux – This could be an option for Canelo’s next fight. Lemieux is a huge puncher though. He might be too risky for Canelo given that he’s coming off of an injury. Even if Canelo hadn’t been injured in his last fight against Liam Smith, Lemieux is a risky opponent. Canelo is not hard to hit, and he likes to take frequent rest breaks against the ropes. If Canelo does that against Lemieux, he might get taken out with one of his left hooks to the head or body. This would be a really hard fight potentially. Golden Boy might not want to risk their golden goose Canelo against a slugger like Lemieux. Even if Canelo beats Lemieux, he could absorb punishment against him. The last thing Golden Boy Promotions needs is a depleted Canelo going into a fight against Golovkin later in the year.
– Curtis Stevens – Canelo would be in danger against a hard puncher like Stevens for one or two rounds before Stevens fades like he did in his last fight against James De La Rosa. Stevens suffered an injury to his left hand in that fight. It’s unclear whether the injury will be healed in time for him to fight the likes of Canelo in early 2017. If Golden Boy wants a fairly sure thing win for Canelo, then Stevens is probably a great option for him. He’s a safer choice than Lemieux, who is younger and bigger.
– Gabriel Rosado – I think Rosado has a decent chance of fighting Canelo, because Golden Boy can market the fight as another Puerto Rico vs. Mexico fight like they did with the Canelo vs. Miguel Cotto. I doubt that Golden Boy will care too much about Rosado having lost his last fight against Willie Monroe Jr. last September. I think they’ll do the fight anyway, and count on the casual boxing fans as not having seen the Rosado vs. Monroe Jr. fight.
– Billy Joe Saunders – This is not a likely option for Canelo’s next fight.
– Kell Brook – I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Golden Boy chooses to match Canelo against Brook. The only problems in Canelo fighting Brook are the potential risk of his surgically repaired right eye causing him problems in training camp. Brook suffered a broken right eye socket in his 5th round knockout loss to unbeaten middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin last September. According to Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn, his eye is fine now after his surgery, and he’s back inside training. Never the less, Brook has not fought since the injury. There’s a possibility his eye might not make it through training camp. If Canelo and Golden Boy want to risk it, then they can go ahead. Hopefully, they’ve got a backup plan if they take this fight in case Brook suffers a setback in training. Canelo would also be heavily criticized if he faces Brook, because it would be his second welterweight opponent in his last three fights. Canelo is supposed to be moving up to the middleweight division to get ready for a fight against IBF/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in September. If Canelo faces another welterweight in Brook, it would be poor preparation for a match against Golovkin later on in the year.
– Willie Monroe Jr. – This is not a likely fight for Canelo, because his trainer has already ruled Monroe Jr. out as an option for him. I don’t know why. It’s likely that Monroe Jr. is seen as a guy with a difficult fighting style for Canelo, so they don’t want to take the risk of fighting him. Canelo struggled in the past against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara. Those guys threw a lot of jabs and used some movement. Mayweather didn’t move very much against Canelo. Mayweather won by jabbing Canelo and hitting him with pot shots. I don’t think Canelo and his team want to fight anyone else that is even slightly similar to Mayweather like Monroe Jr.
Canelo will almost surely be challenging for the WBO middleweight title in early 2017 against Saunders, but that fight is likely going to take place on the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo in May. Golden Boy will likely save that fight for HBO pay-per-view, because Canelo’s boxing fans can see him winning the WBO 160lb title off Saunders.
It would nice to see Canelo take on a good middleweight like Avtandil Khurtsidze or Chris Eubank Jr. Those guys would give Canelo a run for his money. However, they might be too dangerous for Canelo, and Golden Boy likely won’t want to take the risk of putting either of them in with him. Khurtsidze is a very good pressure fighter with excellent punching power and a good chin. If Canelo backs against the ropes to take a rest break against him, he’ll take a beating. This would be a real nightmare for Canelo. Chris Eubank Jr. would be a real nightmare due to his punching power and boxing skills. Canelo might win, but he could lose as well. I don’t think Golden Boy will want to put Canelo in with a guy like Eubank Jr. It would be a fight where even if Canelo won, he might be made to look bad. Golden Boy can’t afford to have Canelo look bad in the process of winning, because that might cause some of his boxing fans to jump ship to the Golovkin camp, because he wins his fights so easily.