Cinco de Drama

Cinco de Drama

Cinco de Mayo weekend (May 2^nd) has become the most talked about date in boxing history. By now everybody has figured out that Floyd Mayweather Jr always fights on this weekend, which of course is a big Mexican American holiday weekend and the Mexican American community are big consumers of boxing. So it comes as no surprise that Mayweather is once again penciled in to fight at the MGM in Las Vegas on May 2^nd. What makes this Cinco De Mayo Saturday more intriguing than usual is the fact that Mexican born fighter Saul Canelo Alvarez has decided to take this date and make it his own. Makes sense, since Canelo is from Mexico and is the new box office draw from south of the boarder.

The war for this date really got going when Canelo announced his plans to fight Puerto Rican box office champ Miguel Cotto on this date. A Canelo vs Cotto fight is big enough to outdraw a Mayweather fight on the same night, unless Mayweather actually did the impossible and fight Manny Pacquiao. In my opinion the possibility of Canelo vs Cotto was the only real reason the Floyd/Manny negotiations even started. Floyd knew fighting Amir Khan on May 2^nd wasn’t enough to out sell Canelo vs Cotto, and Khan seemed poised as the next in line for the Mayweather fight.

So due to Canelo’s insistence on claiming Cinco De Mayo for himself, boxing fans seemed poised to get at least one mega fight on the holiday, and possibly two. Even if Mayweather vs Pacquiao didn’t happen AGAIN, boxing fans were at least getting an exciting big time matchup between Canelo and Cotto. Fans couldn’t lose, either the biggest fight ever or a great plan B.

Wrong, there is one scenario that seems likely that could really put a damper on our May 2^nd party plans. Rumor has it that Miguel Cotto dragged his feet on the Canelo fight due to a possibility of landing another Mayweather fight. What better way to insure Cinco de Mayo box office victory over Canelo than to take his only opponent that could outsell a Mayweather fight on PPV. As soon as word spread that the Canelo vs Cotto negotiations had stalled, the Mayweather vs Cotto rematch rumors started up, So not only no mega fight, but no Canelo/Cotto either. Now Pacquiao has also looked to plan B, since it appears the Mayweather negotiations have stalled as well.

Luckily for boxing fans Canelo hasn’t given up on the date, and has signed on to fight James Kirkland on May 2^nd on regular HBO. It’s not the box office draw of Miguel Cotto, but it promises to be a good action fight, and best of all it gives fight fans a free alternative. It’s the only move Canelo had left if he wanted to keep the date, and the pressure is now once again on Floyd to provide a good enough match up to make fans pay for a fight instead of saving their money and watching Canelo/Kirkland.

The boxing battle over Cinco de Mayo is intense and we haven’t heard the last of the May 2^nd drama. But for now we know that we’re at least getting Canelo vs Kirkland, and more than likely a Mayweather fight.

– John Dyer / @johnjohndyer