Canelo to fight 37-year-old Joshua Clottey next on December 6th

09/30/2014 Rob Smith

Chris Mannix of Sports illustrated is reporting that Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya has confirmed that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) will be fighting 37-year-old former IBF 147lb champion Joshua Clottey (38-4, 22 KOs) next on December 6th at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. This is obviously disappointing news for hardcore boxing fans with some knowledge of the sport because Clottey hasn’t been a factor since 2010 when he was beaten soundly by Manny Pacquiao.

Recently, De La Hoya dangled James Kirkland’s name as a potential opponent for Canelo’s December 6th fight. You now have to wonder whether De La Hoya did this in order to get Clottey to come in at a cheaper price for the Canelo fight. Why else mention Kirkland’s name if the guy that Canelo and De La Hoya really wanted is the 37-year-old Clottey?

De La Hoya: Canelo wants to be second to nobody, that’s why he moved to HBO

09/30/2014 Rob Smith

Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya says that one of the reasons why the 24-year-old former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez moved to HBO was because he didn’t want to be second to anybody in fighting on Showtime. With Canelo’s situation in fighting on Showtime, he was badly overshadowed by the more popular and much more accomplished Floyd Mayweather Jr.

That situation wasn’t going to go away until Mayweather finished out his contract with Showtime, because he was simply a more talented fighter than the red-haired Canelo. That fact was borne out when the two fighters faced each other last year in September and Mayweather made Canelo look bad in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision.

De La Hoya: Canelo wants to be the face of boxing

09/27/2014 Bill Phanco

Former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has a lot of people with HBO and Golden Boy Promotions excited about his potential in the sport after he recently signed a 3-year, 3 fight deal with HBO this week. HBO Sports president Ken Hershman believes that he’s got a fighter who will be a huge success for his network with his big fights.

Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya believes that Canelo will become boxing. In other words, Canelo will rise up to the biggest star in the sport.

Canelo: Mayweather ran from Maidana the entire night

09/24/2014 Rob Smith

Former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez wasn’t too impressed with WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr’s recent win over Marcos Maidana earlier this month on September 13th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While some boxing fans feel that Mayweather did an excellent job of neutralizing Maidana’s power by using movement and tactical clinching to stop the Argentinian from hammering him with his big shots, Canelo felt that all Mayweather did was run and he didn’t take any risks by standing in the pocket to slug with the stronger fighter.

Canelo Alvarez Signs Major Agreement with HBO Sports

09/24/201409/23/2014 Golden Boy Promotions

Golden Boy Promotions Founder Oscar de la Hoya, HBO Sports President Ken Hershman, and superstar boxer Canelo Álvarez today announced a major new agreement to showcase the fan-favorite fighter’s matches on HBO Sports.

“For all of my career, I have wanted to fight on HBO for one main reason–I believe it will allow more of my fans to see me in action,” said Álvarez (44-1-1, 31KOs). “Today marks a huge milestone for me, and I look forward to a long and successful partnership with HBO.”

Álvarez, a light-middleweight knockout artist known for his tremendous punching power, made his pro debut in 2005 at 15-years-old and quickly became one of the most popular prize fighters in the sport. His exciting fighting style and reputation for taking on all comers has captured the attention of fans all around the world.

Canelo back at HBO; next fight likely Joshua Clottey on December 6th

09/24/201409/23/2014 Jeff Sorby

Golden Boy Promotions biggest star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is meeting with HBO President of Sports Ken Hershman and Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya today to sign a new contract that will return the red-haired Canelo to HBO for an unspecified amount of fights. Canelo was previous with HBO before leaving for Showtime for his last 5 fights.

With Canelo coming back to HBO, it brings them a big star that can potentially take over for Manny Pacquiao when he eventually walks away from the sport or gets too old to bring in the PPV numbers like he used to.

Along with Canelo’s signing with HBO to be announced today, Canelo’s December 6th fight against Joshua Clottey is expected to be announced as well. The Canelo-Clottey fight will be taking place at the Alamadome in San Antonio, Texas. It’s not a great fight, to be sure, but it gives Canelo a sure thing win so that he can move forward afterwards and face WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto in their expected catch-weight fight at 155 pounds next year in May on Cinco de Mayo.

Is Canelo capable of taking the baton from Mayweather to become boxing’s next PPV star?

08/20/2014 Rob Smith

Before former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s last two fights against Alfredo Angulo and Erislandy Lara, he was seen by many boxing fans as the guy who would take over for the aging Floyd Mayweather Jr to become the sport’s next huge money-making pay-per-view attraction.

It didn’t matter that Canelo couldn’t speak English and that he looked too heavy for the weight division he was fighting in; fans still saw him as the guy who would take the baton from Mayweather and bring in huge PPV numbers each time he fought. But now after the disappointing PPV stats that Canelo brought in for his last two fights against Angulo and Lara, it’s now looking like Canelo will be more of a replacement of Miguel Cotto in terms of PPV stats than Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao.

Golovkin willing to be the B-side against the top guys, says Loeffler

07/28/2014 Jeff Sorby

To show how serious WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (30-0, 27 KOs) is willing to get the big names to fight him, he’s willing to be the B-side and even the C-side to make those fights happen, says his promoter Top Loeffer of K2 Promotions.

Loeffler doesn’t say who these fighters are that he’d be willing to have Golovkin play second fiddle, but you would have to guess that he’s talking about Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, but not necessarily in that order.

Canelo should do the right thing and give Lara a rematch like Mayweather gave Maidana a rematch

07/20/2014 Jeff Sorby

It’s been a little over a week since former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) won a controversial 12 round split decision win over Erislandy Lara (19-2-2, 12 KO’s) in their fight at middleweight at 155, and it’s clear that boxing fans are even more undecided now than they were back then.

Last night’s replay of the Canelo-Lara fight, including the ALL ACCESS epilogue showing, showed that Canelo’s win over Lara was far from convincing. The judges gave the more popular Canelo the victory by the scores of 115-113 and 117-111 for Canelo, and 115-113, but boxing fans are still largely split down the middle about who really won the fight.

The case against the Boxing Purists

07/20/201407/19/2014 Philip Green

Boxing purists are a group of fans that like nothing better than to fawn over the defensive skills and ‘tactical mastery’ of fighters who most normal fans would simply describe as boring. Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong with appreciating the defensive aspects of the sport, boxing purists often look down on aggressive, come forward fighters who try to force the action as being one dimensional and lacking in genuine boxing skills.

Like a bunch of snooty College Professors they usually regard ‘lefty’ Southpaws to be inherently superior to Orthodox fighters, a belief which is as baseless as it is predictable. Purists are also some of the most vocal whiners and complainers when a close decision does not go their way and it is time their charges were rebuked.