It’s official now…. The power of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez won out over Amir’s Khan’s speed this past weekend in Las Vegas. The result was a devastating 6th round knockout by Canelo. With the win, the new face of boxing retains his WBC, Ring Magazine and lineal middleweight championships. But what’s next? Immediately after dispensing with Khan, Canelo invited WBA, IBF, IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin into the ring. He then proudly stated that he’ll fight anybody and that he’ll fight Golovkin “right now”. Following up that statement with a more colorful pronouncement in Spanish by saying, “I’m Mexican and I don’t (f&ck) around!”
Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean that an Alvarez-Golovkin unification fight is the next step. There are three major factors that will decide if this fight happens: 1. Will Canelo’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions let the fight happen? 2. Is Alvarez willing to fight at the middleweight maximum of 160 pounds? 3. Can they agree on the money?
There’s always been behind the scenes rumblings that De La Hoya and his team have tried to keep Canelo from going toe-to-toe with the hard hitting Kazakh. With Golovkin’s unique skill set and his propensity to knockout opponents at an extremely high rate, there’s reports of doubt on De La Hoya’s part that Alvarez could win a fight against him. So why risk his company’s cash cow? Weight has also been an issue as all Canelo’s middleweight fights thus far have been at a catch-weight of 155 pounds which is essentially the middleweight minimum. But, Golovkin has insisted that he won’t fight under 160lbs. regardless of who the opponent is. And with any super fight, compensation will always be an issue. On the last point, Canelo has always insisted he’s the A-Side draw, so will demand the higher percentage.
So if the two sides can’t come to an agreement, what happens next?
Canelo could wind up in a consolation bout with undefeated WBO middleweight title holder Billy Joe Saunders (23-0). Or perhaps he could get in the ring with French-Canadian David Lemieux (38-3) who picked up the NABO middleweight strap on the Canelo-Khan undercard, Lemieux previously lost the IBF title to Golovkin.
The worst case scenario is that Alvarez goes back down to the super welterweight division. There he’ll fight at a weight, while not comfortable, certainly more advantageous, he’ll have a chance face champions such as Zac Dunn (IBO), Liam Smith (WBO), and Jermall Charlo (IBF). A potential rematch with Erislandy Lara is possible, but he barely won the last go around, so not likely. More likely, would be a rematch with Miguel Cotto given the purse dispute from their last fight that was just settled, a rematch could have been one of the conditions of such settlement.
As for Amir Khan, he’s already stated he’ll go back down to welterweight where there is a very solid chance that he’ll face the winner of the Keith Thurman/Shawn Porter fight in June. The winner of that contest will walk out with the WBA welterweight championship. Or perhaps, he’ll finally get his shot at IBF Champion Kell Brook.
Either way, there seem to be plenty of great match-ups looming for both fighters.
If you liked this story, check these out: 7 Unspoken Truths About Cotto-Canelo; 4 Reasons to Watch Canelo-Kirkland