In disappointing news, the red-headed Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) has pulled out of his December 6th fight against Joshua Clottey due to an ankle injury Canelo suffered. With the injury, it looks like Canelo will go straight into the May 2015 fight against WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto on HBO pay-per-view.
More than a few boxing fans are already suspecting that Canelo pulled out of the fight with Clottey in order to avoid the risk involved in facing the tough ex-IBF welterweight champion. Clottey might be 37, but he looked awfully good last April in soundly beating Anthony Mundine by a 12 round decision. In that fight, Clottey looked as good as he had in the prime of his career when he was beating Zab Judah and giving guys like Antonio Margarito problems.
Clottey still has his hand speed, power and his combination punching going for him. It would have been a really tough fight for Canelo had he taken it with Clottey, and there’s no telling whether Canelo would have won or gotten through the fight without suffering an injury.
As bad as Canelo looked against Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout and Floyd Mayweather Jr, I think Clottey would have been more than a handful for Canelo.
Golden Boy Promotions had this statement on Canelo’s injury:
”Due to a persistent ankle injury, Canelo Alvarez must withdraw from his December 6 bout. He thanks his fans for their support and looks forward to big things in 2015 on HBO. Golden Boy Promotions and HBO are reviewing their options for the December 6 date.
It looks like the December 6th fight card will go on without Canelo. It’s going to be a real bummer for boxing fans who were looking forward to seeing Canelo fight in December, because it would have given fans an interesting fight to see other than Amir Khan’s fight on the same night.
Some boxing fans think Canelo pulled out of the Clottey fight because they say he’s gotten too heavy and he would have been forced to take off a lot of weight to get down to the junior middleweight limit. But that doesn’t make sense because Canelo could have always had the weight limit increased to accommodate his weight.
