The recent news of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vacating his WBC Middleweight Belt has fans outraged as it meant further delay of the Canelo vs GGG fight.
However, it was not something new for boxing pundits as they cited the long, half-decade weight for the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight. While the knee-jerk assumption is that Canelo is afraid to fight Gennady Golovkin, the business side of boxing was something to consider.
At this point, Canelo vs GGG would be boxing's top draw but they would not be close to what Pacquiao-Mayweather generated. Boxing News 24 writer Isaac Marin lays down the sad reality of the sport now.
"What we boxing fans need to understand is that mentality of the best fighters fighting the best has died and this era of boxing has become more about the numbers and whether or not a fight adds up."
Obviously, Canelo wants to maximize his payday and that would also mean building up GGG as an opponent. There may be more underlying reasons for Canelo's decision but for the rest of us, the fact remains that Canelo and GGG are likely to fight different opponents. It sounds tragic, but boxing fans have to accept the fact and move on.
In a recent chat by Dan Rafael of ESPN, Canelo's next opponent was speculated and the easy answer would be David Lemieux.
"I suspect that if in fact the Canelo-GGG fight is not made for September that Canelo will fight Lemieux as a way to get used to 160. Lemieux has said repeatedly he won't go below 160. He literally cant do it physically."
In a previous response, Rafael noted that "Canelo said very clearly and specifically he would fight GGG at 160" so the issue about the catch weight was moot already. However, Canelo might want to test the waters before facing GGG right away.
There is another fighter for Canelo according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports. He has mentioned that Saul Alvarez could take a rematch with Miguel Cotto.
"But sources told Yahoo Sports that even if De La Hoya makes those calls to Team Golovkin, there is momentum to make a rematch with Miguel Cotto," Iole confided.
"Golden Boy promotes Alvarez and Roc Nation Sports promotes Cotto. Alvarez won the WBC belt from Cotto in November with an impressive unanimous decision."
Iole elaborated that there was a dispute between the two camps prior to their first match last November, but they have been ironed out. "After they settled their dispute, Golden Boy and music mogul Jay-Z's Roc Nation have made progress toward a rematch," he concluded.