Saul Alvarez vs. Paul Williams in September?

It's no secret that Golden Boy Promotions wants to navigate Canelo into a potential mega fight with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. sometime in the future. Rushing him too soon, though, would almost surely produce a loss. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer has taken it upon himself to try and delay until the young superstar is ready.

There's no doubt that Canelo is the future star for Golden Boy and potential pay-per-view golden egg who can produce massive numbers long after Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao are gone. That's why Golden Boy has been building him up by featuring him on the televised undercard of Mayweather fights.

Now, it seems that Golden Boy is ready to put their plan into motion. The plan is to have Canelo headline his very own pay-per-view card on September 15th.

No opponent has been set in stone, but Golden Boy have been in contact with James Kirkland as a potential foe. This is good because Kirkland would be one of Canelo's toughest challenges to date. What Kirkland lacks in defense, he makes up for in blistering offense. 

However, this fight might not happen because Kirkland is currently out due to a shoulder injury that might not heal up in him for a September bout with Canelo. The WBC tried having an eliminator between Vanes Martirosyan and Erislandy Lara, but Martirosyan backed out of the fight because he felt the WBC wouldn't guarantee him a title shot even if he won. 

If Kirkland isn't ready, a name that Schaefer tossed around was former pound-for-pound king and world titlist Paul Williams. 

This would probably be a more interesting fight, although he hasn't really done anything to earn this shot. Then again, what do most guys do to earn their shots other than having a name?

If this fight were to happen, I expect it to be an even tougher fight for Canelo. We'll see how Paul Williams' work rate does against Canelo's patience.

Williams' name recognition also makes a lot more sense from a pay-per-view sales standpoint, more so than lesser-known James Kirkland.