Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez wants to make a deal. Speaking today at the second stop in the three-city promotional tour to hype the upcoming May 7 Canelo-Amir Khan fight, Alvarez – as quoted by RingTV.com – made one thing clear: he is not a middleweight.
As fans everywhere know, the demand for Canelo, the lineal middleweight champion of the world, to fight Gennady Golovkin, the interim WBC and reigning IBF and WBA 160-pound king, is at a fever pitch right now. Everyone wants to see this fight get made, but Canelo said that both he and GGG will have to “feel comfortable” and that “the conditions have to be right.” before this super-fight can get done.
“I’m not a middleweight,” Alvarez said today in New York. “I’m a super-welterweight. That’s my weight class. I wanted to fight this time (against Khan) for some sort of title at super-welter. Look, I’ve given many concessions. I’ve given up many advantages. I’ve done it throughout my career to get to this point where I’m at. One thing I’m not going to do, I’m not going to give up any concession or any advantages to GGG. I’m in the position where I deserve and I’ve earned my spot. So is the fight going to get made? It’s going to get made. But the conditions have to be right. I have to feel comfortable and he has to feel comfortable as well.”
So, will Canelo insist, or is he insisting, on GGG fighting down at 155, the poundage the Khan fight will be fought at? Golovkin has repeatedly stated how he will not fight below 160, as that is the middleweight limit. It seems, then, that we have reached an impasse, as Sheldon from “The Big Bang” might say.
Golovkin’s translator, Eric Gomez of Golden Boy, said it’s a “big misconception” that Canelo is continually called a middleweight, and Gomez added that the only reason Alvarez became middleweight champion is “because he wanted to fight Miguel Cotto.”
Canelo of course beat Cotto last November to win middleweight honours, but he has yet to fight as a full 160-pounder, and maybe he will not do so for a number of months. If so, will GGG get to fight the fight he, and the boxing world, wants any time soon?
“Is it going to happen this year? I don’t know,” Canelo said. “I don’t negotiate my fights. But if the conditions are right and the conditions are met, all the details of the fight, let’s do it.”
Plenty of food for thought indeed. One question worth asking is, with all this preoccupation on the makings of the fight with GGG, will Canelo run the risk of underestimating Khan; of taking his eye off that particular ball?
If I were to place a bet, I’d wager we will not see Canelo Vs. GGG this year. For a number of reasons.
