GGG-Canelo Was On Minds

By Michael Woods

My estimate: 31 percent of press attention at the Tuesday Canelo Alvarez v Amir Khan presser in Manhattan to hype their May 7 presser got allocated to the forthcoming Canelo Alvarez v Gennady Golovkin fight.

Please don’t take my word for that, that it’s imminent.

Canelo Alvarez (seen with Golden Boy exec Eric Gomez, who translated for the boxer) said so, promoter Oscar De La Hoya did too.

When is up for conjecture. And at what weight is too. Or maybe not…

Alvarez made quite clear that his isn’t a middleweight body, and that he will sign to fight GGG, but on his terms. I made concessions to get here, he said, “and I was the passenger but now I am the driver.”

Media pressed the point, that many fans would prefer the middleweight title be contested in traditional style, with a max weight of 160 at the weigh in. Alvarez said that Miguel Cotto insisted on a catchweight when he fought for that 160 belt and so he basically started this trend. He’s really a junior middleweight, even if the belt being vied for is a middleweight one, he reasons.

The WBC would prefer no such tinkering but, said their boss, Mauricio Sulaiman, if two fighters make a contractual bargain to cap the weight, his hands are tied.