After defeating Erislandy Lara on Saturday night, who is next for Canelo Alvarez?
While I didn’t watch the fight, our resident boxing expert, Duan did and gave me his report.
It was close. And I’m not somebody who awards rounds just based on who is coming forward, but I do think it counts in rounds where there is nothing else to split them. If there’s nothing between the two fighters in a session, I favour the guy who is trying to make the fight. Also the number of punches landed were incredibly close, and each one of Canelo’s had more impact than three of Lara’s. Lara tried steal it and he got bullied out of it. I don’t want to hear any sour grapes on this one.
At the post-fight press conference, Oscar De La Hoya offered three names as possible next fights for Canelo Alvarez. We’ll take a look at each guy.
James Kirkland
This could very well be a nice Showtime non-PPV fight for Canelo, or they could put it on PPV and draw the similar 350,000 reported buys that Canelo did with Alfredo Angulo.
From Duan: “I would be fine with Kirkland as more of a thread-water type fight next if they just need a name guy to put him in with. It would probably be similar to the Angulo one.”
Gennady Golovkin
I don’t feel like this should happen anytime soon. Golovkin is very much a must-see fighter for the hardcore boxing fans, but in order to take full advantage of his potential, he needs to go through a few more guys and become must-see for more casual fans.
From Duan: “GGG should be held off for a while. People are currently happy enough just to see Golovkin and his star is still growing.”
Miguel Cotto
This should be Canelo’s next big fight. Cotto’s fight with Sergio Martinez didn’t do much more (if any) PPV buys than Canelo did against Angulo. But still, he’s a top five fighter just in visibility alone.
From Duan: “When Cotto is ready, that’s obviously the most desirable option.”