Saul Canelo Alvarez (Photo : Getty Images)
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez may have found a valid reason to get WBA, IBO, IBF middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin fight him at a catchweight at 155 pounds.
Alvarez (46-1-1, 32K Os) has insisted he will only fight Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) at a catchweight-stipulated match of 155 pounds, suggesting that the former is trying to avoid a matchup with the undefeated Kazakh.
"We are quite comfortable at this weight and it suits us," Alvarez's trainer Eddy Reynoso told ESPN Deportes.
"We are not inventing a new division; it's just part of the business and everyone looks for what suits them, and whoever wants to fight with Saul will have to come down or go up."
But despite being mandated by the WBC to defend his title against Golovkin, Alvarez now has the perfect reason to get "GGG" to fight him at a handicap bout.
According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated Alvarez's clash against Miguel Cotto last month "generated 900,000 pay-per-view buys and $58 million in revenue, per HBO's Mark Taffet."
This could be the factor why Alvarez could get Golovkin to submit in the Mexican's fighting conditions.
Golovkin only generated 150,000 PPV buys against former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux last October, clearly dwarfed by the PPV buys earned by Cotto-Canelo.
Dan Ambrose of Boxing News 24 noted that Alvarez "finally has got the excuse" to night fight Golovkin at the full 160-pound middleweight limit, with Trip's PPV earnings not close enough to Canelo's.
While Alvarez and Golovkin are both considered as the top fighters in the boxing world, there is a substantial difference between the two boxers in terms of PPV numbers.
Alvarez's camp has yet to make a move within the 15-day period given by the WBC to negotiate with Golovkin or relinquish the title belt. But according to Boxing Scene, the governing body has given Alvarez until Dec. 11 to finalize a "resolution of this matter in accordance to the WBC rules and regulations."
