by Robert Jackson: Although it’s still not certain who Canelo will be fighting come September 15th 2012, it’s certainly interesting to hear all of the speculation about possible opponents. Some boxing insiders have Ricardo Mayorga as the fall opponent, others are riding the Jose Lopez gravy train, yet others speculate on K9 Bundrage being the man.
Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga has been the opponent du jour for many of the top fighters including Oscar De La Hoya, Tito Trinidad, Shane Mosley and most recently Miguel Cotto who was on the comeback trail.. Mayorga who has victories over the late Vernon Forrest and Fernando Vargas is promoted by Don King and knows how to sell a fight, what he doesn’t have any longer is the ability to WIN fights, so he would definitely be coming into a fight with Canelo at best to get a good payday.
At 39 years old K9 Bundrage is unusually strong for a 5’6” jr middleweight and also fights in an awkward, rough style, throwing punches from odd angles. Trained and managed by Emanuel Steward, Bundrage is an overachiever at this point in his career and has been on a roll as of late with wins over former undisputed welterweight champion Cory Spinks and journeyman Sechew Powell. The shorter Bundrage would be at a serious skills disadvantage against Canelo, but the great equalizer would be Steward who would put together a great gameplan for K9 to win. K9 is also a promotional free agent having ended his promotional relationship with Don King when his contract with King expired; and with Steward as his manager it shouldn’t be hard for Golden Boy to make a deal with Bundrage.
Last but not least there is Jose Lopez, recent victor by TKO over Victor Ortiz who was the ALREADY signed opponent to face Canelo prior to even fighting Lopez, after Paul Williams (injury) and James Kirkland (injury) dropped out. Lopez was supposed to be a tuneup opponent for Ortiz and after beating Lopez the Canelo vs Ortiz PPV would have been a go. 8 rounds and a broken jaw later the plans for a Canelo/Ortiz showdown were also broken. During the ring walk for the Ortiz fight Josesito Lopez was accompanied by Al Haymon point man Sam Watson and sons; days later it was revealed that Lopez had signed with boxing advisor Al Haymon, to represent him. Haymon a mystery man as far as the camera is concerned represents many of high profile fighters including Floyd Mayweather and Chris Arreola and is known for his ability to get his clients big fights, big money and TV exposure.
With the Lopez – Haymon connection now solid, it’s possible that the former 140lb fighter could possibly move up to 154lbs and face Canelo, in a fight never thought possible a few months back considering Lopez’ body of work prior to the Ortiz win. After all, this is a big fight, for big money and plenty of TV exposure – Haymon’s specialty. Lopez would definitely be a big underdog facing Canelo in the Jr middleweight division and wouldn’t be expected to win, but putting in a determined fight against Canelo like he did against Ortiz wouldn’t hurt his marketability and may well be the reason why Lopez WILL get to fight Canelo in September. A mismatch on paper could just be a stroke of genius in Josesito Lopez’ favor…if he survives (doesn’t take a serious beating).