Promoter Oscar De La Hoya argues that Canelo Alvarez should “squeeze the fans” for the “last dollars” before retiring by fighting only the types of fighters that will stay in front of him so he can land his bombs.
Milking the Fans’ Last Dollars
De La Hoya believes Canelo should steer clear of the movers that have given him problems in the past. He should focus on fighting just brawlers for the remainder of his career to milk the fans for every last dollar before he retires.
Avoiding the “Floyd Types”
“I’m not saying Canelo is shot or done. No, it’s far from it. It’s all in the matchmaking of who you put in front of him. It’s all about squeezing those last dollars from the fans, Canelo. You want to squeeze the fans,” said promoter Oscar De La Hoya to the media about Canelo Alvarez needing to be more selective in his matchmaking in the remaining fights he had to avoid the “Floyd types” that box and move.
Squeezing the last dollars out of the fans would require Canelo to return to fighting the Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia types that he’d been facing before Turki Alalshikh matched him against Terence Crawford. Alvarez can probably fight another two to three years fighting those types of fighters, but it likely wouldn’t make Turki happy.
Matchmaking for Maximum Profit
“Canelo fighting the right opponent that is going to stay in front of him, that is going to fight and make it a brawl, Canelo knocks them out,” said De La Hoya.
If Turki Alalshikh is the one choosing Canelo’s opponents in his last two fights on his contract with Riyadh Season, he’s likely to want to match him against some of the fighters that he’s shown on his cards. That means Alvarez could be placed in near-unwinnable fights against these guys before retiring:
- Dmitry Bivol
- Christian Mbilli
- Lester Martin
- Artur Beterbiev
- David Morrell
- Imam Khataev
Apart from Bivol, Canelo wouldn’t have to chase the other ones around the ring. They’d be right in front of him and would be a major upgrade over Terence Crawford. The fighters on this list would make it more entertaining to watch than the run-oriented style that Crawford used to beat Canelo.
Canelo can still be a handful of the brawlers at 168, but not all the really dangerous ones with power, high work rates, and a huge punch. He would likely come up short if he were matched against fighters like Lester Martinez, Christian Mbilli, and Osleys Iglesias. Even in a rematch with William Scull, I believe Canelo would lose.
Turki Alalshikh’s Call
Oscar is failing to discuss the reason why Canelo fought Terence Crawford. It wasn’t his choice. This was Turki Alalshikh’s call. Crawford is one of his favorite fighters, and he specifically wanted Canelo to fight him. So, he offered him $150 million, and he did it.
It’s very possible that if Turki had offered Canelo similar money or a little more, he’d have agreed to fight David Benavidez and given the fans in North America the fight they actually wanted to see. But Turki wanted Crawford. That was his call. So, Alvarez was stuck fighting a style that he’s always had problems with.
