By: Sean Crose
Although Mexican holiday weekends in September and May are known as occasions for Canelo Alvarez fights, this September’s Mexican Independence Day weekend will be an exception. For it’s been announced that the red haired star will not be fighting this on September 14th, as was widely expected. “As a Mexican,” Alvarez declared, “it’s a responsibility and an honor to represent my country in both May and September…those are my dates. However, as a world champion in multiple weight classes, I also have the responsibility of delivering the most exciting and competitive fights possible. That’s why Golden Boy and my team have decided to postpone the date in order to do right by my fans by promoting the best fight possible and with the best opponent possible.”
Word is that Canelo isn’t interested in fighting arch rival Gennady Golovkin again – at least not in the near future – and that there simply aren’t any names that can feasibly be matched with Canelo in time for September 14th. Possible opponents whose names were being bandied about were Sergey Kovalev, and Demetrius Andrade, among others. ESPN reports that DAZN, the streaming service Canelo fights on, had wanted Canelo to face Golovkin for a third time after two popular, lucrative and highly controversial middleweight title bouts. Yet apparently the biggest name if the fight business wanted nothing of it. ESPN also reports that, although DAZN was happy to let Canelo fight light heavyweight kingpin Kovalev instead of Golovkin, a deal simply couldn’t be reached for the September 14th fight date.
With all that in mind, Canelo is still expected to fight once again in 2019. At the moment, the 52-1-2 fighter is in the midst of an insanely lucrative 300-plus million dollar contract with DAZN. That means, however, that DAZN most likely has a say as to who Canelo gets to fight. With Golovkin having signed onto the streaming service for a ton of money himself, there may indeed be friction now that Canelo has opted not to face Golovkin again. Many, if not most, feel Canelo lost his first fight with Golovkin, although the judges ruled it a draw. There are those who felt Canelo lost his second fight with Golovkin, as well, though the judges gave him the nod on that occasion. That being said, Canelo is widely regarded as a fighter who isn’t afraid to take risks, a fact some would say is evidenced by Canelo’s seeming interest in facing Kovalev, a highly skilled, naturally bigger man.
Canelo’s last fight showed him besting the highly regarded Daniel Jacobs in impressive fashion, earning a well deserved unanimous decision win in Las Vegas, a city seen, sometimes skeptically, as the Mexican icon’s second home. Should Canelo fight again this year, which is something that is highly expected, it still remains uncertain who it is he will face. Canelo now holds belts in both the middleweight and super middleweight divisions. The World Boxing Council is particularly impressed with Canelo, who it recently gave a special title to.