Decisions. Decisions.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) has until the end of Monday to choose whether he wants to fight No. 1 WBC mandatory challenger Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KO’s) or risk being stripped of his WBC World middleweight title.
As far as alternatives, Canelo does not have much of a choice. Here’s why.
Take a moment to look at the world boxing rankings, specifically the middleweight division. What names stick out that would make a Canelo fight marketable?
Yes, Canelo is a huge draw, but that does not mean every fight is going to reel in huge numbers.
For example, Mayweather-Pacquiao garnered 4.6 million pay-per-view buys, but four months later, Mayweather-Berto was unable to surpass 550,000 buys.
It takes two to tango, although in Mayweather’s case, his name obviously carries the most weight.
In a perfect world, boxing would serve itself well by putting on fights against the best of the best 99.99 percent of the time, but in reality, it hardly happens.
As far as TV networks are concerned, there is only a handful of HBO fighters in the middleweight division: Canelo, Golovkin, and David Lemieux.
Golovkin stopped Lemieux inside eight rounds in October, but that will not necessarily deter Canelo from fighting him.
In an interview with Sirius XM following Canelo’s victory over Miguel Cotto, I predicted that the Mexican superstar would more than likely fight Lemieux before Golovkin just to get the experience of fighting a legitimate 160 lb. fighter before fighting perhaps the best one.
While not the best marketing strategy going forward, it has been done before.
Former world champion Austin Trout fought Joey Hernandez after “Twinkle Fingers” lost a one-sided matchup to Julian Williams, a highly-touted prospect who has been calling him out persistently.
Canelo could always go after Jorge Sebastian Heiland, but keep in mind, prior to his selection of Willie Monroe Jr., Golovkin pursued the Heiland fight, but was denied by HBO.
If Canelo-Heiland were to be approved, Twitter will erupt more or less.
Moreover, Tureano Johnson was rejected as a potential opponent for Golovkin due to a controversial loss to Curtis Stevens, who was previously defeated by the Kazakh.
Canelo has two choices: 1. Fight Golovkin. 2. Leave the division.
There have been calls for a Canelo-Bradley fight at 154, but the current WBO World welterweight champion now appears to be pursuing Miguel Cotto rather than a third clash with Manny Pacquiao.
If Bradley-Cotto gets made, which is unlikely due to the rift between Cotto and Top Rank, it could serve as a buildup to Canelo-Bradley, as long as the American comes away with the victory.
– Ryan O’Hara @OHaraSports
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