Canelo Alvarez's Next Fight: Ranking the Best Potential Opponents
Being Saul “Canelo” Alvarez means never having to spend a Saturday night alone.
And while the interpersonal rewards of being a healthy, fit and exceedingly wealthy 24-year-old speak for themselves, it’s not so bad for the guy on the boxing side of the equation either.
The flagship of Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions returned for the first time in 10 months on Saturday in Houston, and the performance he put on while violently erasing Texas native James Kirkland was precisely the type that’s lifted him to must-see status on both cable and pay-per-view television.
Incidentally, though there are seven-plus months remaining, he just won the "KO of the Year" race.
Lest anyone forget, Alvarez rode shotgun to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on history’s most lucrative PPV show prior to May 2, and the response he got—both during a 10-city tour to hype that fight and from the more than 30,000 on hand at Minute Maid Park—shows his star is still among the sport’s brightest.
“People love watching Canelo Alvarez,” De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com. “He’s an exciting fighter. He’s the future of boxing at the tender age of 24 years old. Next to Pacquiao and Mayweather, Canelo is the pay-per-view star. We’re going to continue building his fanbase on the global level.”
The defeat of Kirkland in an exciting match reintroduced Alvarez to HBO viewers in the first fight of a long-term deal announced last September, and it opened the doors to a variety of interesting possibilities for the young Mexican to pursue at either 154 or 160 pounds.
We took a post-fight look at what we think could be some intriguing next steps, and as always, we invite you to make a suggestion or two of your own in the comments section.
5. Demetrius Andrade
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If chatter meant everything, it would be all about Demetrius Andrade.
An undefeated champ at 154 pounds, Andrade was not at all shy about throwing his hat in the ring for the date that ultimately went to Kirkland, and he greeted the news of the Mexican’s selection with the sort of angry tirade that’s sure to have gotten him onto the redhead’s competitive radar.
Problem is, with a bevy of fights available for Alvarez against higher-profile (read: more lucrative) and less strategically daunting (read: easier to hit), the 27-year-old Rhode Islander is at the back of the line.
“I don’t know what the deal is,” he told FightHype.com on April 11. “For somebody to run around and say, ‘I’m the champ, I’m the champ. I’m the best, I’m the best.’ I’m the WBO champion. Why not go for that? I’m not mad, but the fact is that he didn’t want to fight me.”
4. Timothy Bradley
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As the aforementioned Andrade would surely concur, it’s good to have name recognition.
And though former two-division world champion has had precisely zero professional fights beyond the 147-pound weight limit, he’s been mentioned by no less an authority than De La Hoya as a potential foil for Alvarez if and when Desert Storm decides to step to the next rung beyond welterweight.
Bradley told BoxingScene.com, too, that his amateur experience at 152 pounds—where he fought current super middleweight pros Anthony and Andre Dirrell—would serve him well in a big showdown.
Presuming he gets by a June date with Jessie Vargas, the possibility could be out there.
“A lot of people think I’m crazy that I’m going to 154 because I’m a small guy,” Bradley said. “But let me tell you, I fought many years as an amateur at 152 pounds against guys that were 6'0", 6'2", 5'11".”
3. David Lemieux
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Not all that long ago, the concept of an Alvarez fight with David Lemieux was ludicrous.
The Montreal-born slugger had opened his career with 25 consecutive victories—including 24 by knockout—before a two-fight skid that saw him get stopped in seven rounds by veteran Marco Antonio Rubio in April 2011 and narrowly outpointed over 12 by Joachim Alcine in December 2011.
But Lemieux, now 26, rebuilt his brand with six fights through 2013 and then moved into the second-tier middleweight spotlight with consecutive defeats of Fernando Guerrero (KO 3) and Gabriel Rosado (TKO 10). Those wins, along with what he hopes will be a streak-prolonger in a scheduled June 20 date with Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam, could be just the audition reel needed to warrant a look from Team Canelo.
If Alvarez eschews 154 entirely, the Canadian could be an ideal gateway to 160.
“I fear no man, I want to go after the top of the food chain. Oscar and Bernard (Hopkins) came up fighting the best and I am of the same mind,” Lemieux told BoxingNewsOnline.net. “Canelo is a younger, hungrier fighter. He is explosive. He is a tough fighter and it would be a good matchup. Everyone is on the list. I want to fight the best.”
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2. Miguel Cotto
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So long as Miguel Cotto wears a middleweight title belt, he wears a bull’s-eye.
When he scored a shocking 10th-round stoppage of Sergio Martinez to win the WBC’s version of the 160-pound championship, the Puerto Rican automatically made himself a target for not only a handful of fame-seeking foes within that weight class but also to enterprising smaller men looking to travel the same ascending path as the former 140-, 147- and 154-pound titleholder.
A meeting with Alvarez has been talked about almost from the moment the Martinez fight was waved off at Madison Square Garden. It was initially a possibility for the May 2 date that ultimately went elsewhere last week. And now that that one is out of the way, Cotto's new promoter, Roc Nation Sports, suggests that a summit with Canelo is the next most lucrative present under boxing fans’ collective tree.
“Now that May 2 is behind us, (Cotto vs. Alvarez is) the biggest fight in boxing,” David Itskowitch, chief operating officer of Roc Nation Sports, told Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News. “There’s no fight in boxing that’s as big as this.”
1. Gennady Golovkin
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No, he’s not the man who beat the man.
But yes, Gennady Golovkin is the people’s choice.
The Kazakhstan native hasn’t lost a fight as a pro and hasn’t allowed a foe to reach the final bell since 2008. Slowly but surely the IBO/WBA middleweight champion has established himself as the 160-pound commodity with whom fans want to match other fighters who want to claim middleweight glory.
Promoters, too. Especially De La Hoya.
“He's eventually going to fight Golovkin, and the question is at what point do we let him loose?” Golden Boy told CBSSports.com. “The time will come. And at the right time, people will see that fight.
“Golovkin has to fight somebody at 168. Golovkin keeps calling out fighters who are 154. He has to call out somebody at 168 and challenge a big name, like Andre Ward for instance. If he has that type of signature win, then he can maybe become a pay-per-view fighter.”
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