Canelo “Saul” Alvarez is expected to face Liam Smith on Sept. 17 for the WBO title, a move that has gotten many thinking. Has this altered his much awaited bout with Gennady Golovkin?
Recall that it wasn’t too long ago that Alvarez seemed pumped to face Triple G. He had that (expectedly) lopsided win over Amir Khan which he won via punctuating knockout. He dodged the Kazakh express by vacating the WBC title but vowed he would still be facing Golovkin.
To date nothing close to a match with Triple G has been made and now Alvarez seems to be backpedalling with some familiar kind of reasoning.
Singing a different tune
Per the Las Vegas Review Journal, Alvarez used the ‘negotiations’ angle as an excuse though everyone knows that there may be a lot more to that. By now most have heard how Alvarez has refused to fight Golovkin unless it would be at his preferred catchweight of 155 lbs., Boxing 24 News reported.
Golovkin has of course shunned the idea, maintaining that he wants the fight to take place at the full weight of 160 lbs. And the rest is where we are today.
What verbal agreement?
The report further adds that both the Alvarez and Golovkin camps have already come to an agreement and that the megafight will come this Fall. Instead, he will face Liam Smith at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
A slight window of hope is that Alvarez allegedly plans to fight one more time before the year ends. Golovkin does own majority of the belts but there is still one other fighter who has one – Billy Joe Saunders.
It will not be surprising if Alvarez says he is ready to face Golovkin after his bout with Smith. Like the case it is today, folks should be ready to hear that he is ready for Triple G at the press conference. After that, the Mexican and his camp will be coming up with another name – likely Saunders.
