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If Canelo doesn’t make 154, no fight

Photo courtesy of Frank Warren
Fighters Network
14
Sep

GRAPEVINE, Texas – In what seemed like a stern warning to Canelo Alvarez’s camp, Joe Gallagher, who trains Liam Smith, put everyone on notice that if Alvarez doesn’t make 154 pounds at the weigh-in on Friday, there’s no fight.

“If Canelo doesn’t make the weight, (we’ll take) our paycheck,” Gallagher said, “and we’ll go shopping.” Gallagher made clear there will be no catch-weight. No payoff to fight an opponent over the weight limit. If Canelo is overweight for the bout on Saturday at AT&T Stadium on HBO PPV, Smith’s camp will walk into the Texas night without laying a glove on Canelo. Gallagher spoke amid rumors that Alvarez is having trouble making the 154-pound weight limit, gossip that Canelo’s team denies.

“Saul Alvarez and his team — I have huge respect for them,” Gallagher said on Wednesday at a trainer round-table. “They’re professionals in what they do. I don’t expect any slipups at the weigh-in. I expect Saul Canelo to come in and make the weight at 154. But to let everyone know: If Saul Alvarez doesn’t make 154 – they’ll be no fight.”

Gallagher pointed to Smith’s status as the WBO junior middleweight champion and thus shouldn’t have to face an opponent who weighs more than 154 pounds. Gallagher refuted the idea he was trying to send a message with Canelo’s trainer, Jose “Chepo” Reynoso sitting just a few feet away at the same table.



“Liam Smith is world champion and is here to defend his world title,” Gallagher went on. “And if Saul doesn’t make 154 — not saying he won’t — but we’ve seen it’s been a bit of trend the last couple of years, people coming up and then going, ‘Well, it’s a pound. What are you going to do? You’ve got this big fight. Are you going to go and fight?’ No, we’re not. Contractually, we’ve made weight. We’ve done our job. I’m just letting it be known.”

Reynose rejected the rumor that Canelo is having trouble whittling his body down to 154 pounds after campaigning previously at 155 pounds. Golden Boy president Eric Gomez pointed to Alvarez’s history of never missing weight as evidence he will be on point on Saturday. “It’s always a battle to make weight, every fight,” Reynoso said. “If you’re a welterweight you’re going to battle to make welterweight. If you’re a 154-pounder, you’re going to battle. We’ll know Friday if he’s going to have any stumbling blocks. But as of right now, he’s right on target.”

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