By Jimmy James: Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya said in an interview on Monday that Mexican star Saul Canelo Alvarez won’t fight WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo. “That train already left,” explained De La Hoya.
That’s bad news for the middleweight division as Canelo said he won’t fight WBO 160-lb champion Demetrius Andrade because “his style is boring and unattractive to his fanbase.”
If things were not ‘bad enough’, De La Hoya also pointed Canelo won’t fight WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders next — opposite to what other news media reported last week.
The problem with Canelo is that he avoids young undefeated elite champions in order to keep his record clean without another loss in his resume, so it doesn’t affect his purse bid status.
He already lost against Floyd Mayweather and De La Hoya is afraid, one more loss in his record, could front disaster to Canelo’s boxing career.
Canelo is especially afraid of young USA elite undefeated boxers because he knows they’re dangerous, more technical and extremely risky with low reward.
Canelo will likely fight WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Ryota Murata and make a fight in Japan to attract money overseas. Japanese boxing aficionados will pay to see their only star at middleweight try to beat boxing’s current cash-cow.
It’s likely Canelo will avoid WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant in 168lbs. He will also avoid Demetrius Andrade and Jermall Charlo at 160lbs. And surely avoid WBA light heavyweight champion Dimitry Bivol, IBF/WBC champ Arthur Beterbiev, Joshua Buatsi and Oleksander Gvozdyk at 175lbs.
Golden Boy’s strategy involves low tier competition or boxing stars on their way out. If everything else fails they will target or callout retired boxers like Floyd Mayweather Jr and Andre Ward. It’s a pattern with Canelo not to fight mandatory challengers.
