Canelo Alvarez walks to the ring during the WBC middleweight title fight at T-Mobile Arena on May 7, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo : Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Retired boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather said that he was not surprised when Saul Canelo Alvarez declined to face Gennady Golovkin in September. The former pound-for-pound king believes Golden Boy Promotions made a good business decision.
Mayweather told Los Angeles Times that Golden Boy Promotions did a wise move, knowing that pitting Canelo against Golovkin is a risky move. The company knows Alvarez is their biggest source of income and a loss to Golovkin will change their fortunes.
"Golden Boy's making the right decision because that's their cash cow right now," Mayweather said. "If Canelo loses, who do they have to bank on? They have to be smart. This is a business."
The undefeated boxer said that it was the same reason why he turned down offers to fight Manny Pacquiao before. He just wanted to make sure that when the fight happens, he will be on the A-side and get the bigger revenue share. It was the exact thing that happened, as he got a 60-40 advantage during their showdown in May last year.
Alvarez, who has a 47-1-1 record with 33 knockout victories, successfully defended his World Boxing Council middleweight title against Amir Khan in May. He was supposed to face Golovkin in a mandatory defense, but Canelo vacated the title instead and looked for other options.
Instead of facing Golovkin, Alvarez will go up against reigning World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Liam Smith. The Alvarez-Smith title fight will take place on Sept. 17 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
BoxingScene confirmed, though, that Alvarez and Golovkin's camp have already reached a verbal agreement to stage the highly anticipated bout in September next year. For now, Canelo's manager Jose Reynoso said that the Mexican boxing superstar is focused on his upcoming fight against Smith.
Reynoso said that Alvarez will fight at 154 at least for his next two fights before moving up to 160, where Golovkin is waiting for him. "Saul returns to his natural weight, 154 pounds. 160 pounds is still further away, so he's going to return by fighting for a world title against an undefeated British boxer and I think it's a good fight," he said.
Watch Canelo's vicious knockout punch during his victory over Khan below.
