Oscar De La Hoya: It’s Canelo Alvarez-Joshua Clottey in Houston
RING No. 1-rated junior middleweight Canelo Alvarez will face former welterweight titleholder Joshua Clottey on Dec. 6 on HBO at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya informed RingTV.com on Tuesday.
A winner of three straight fights, Clottey (38-4, 22 knockouts) had been a strong consideration for Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) along with James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs), who had verbally agreed to, and then, pulled out of a fight with Gabriel Rosado that was slated for the Nov. 8 Bernard Hopkins-Sergey Kovalev undercard.
Alvarez, who left Showtime recently after signing a long-term deal with HBO, is coming off consecutive victories by 10th-round knockout over Alfredo Angulo in March and by split decision over Erislandy Lara in July.
Prior to facing Angulo, the 24-year-old Mexican star was dethroned as RING and WBC 154-pound champion following a majority decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September. It was the highest-grossing boxing event of all time with nearly $150 million in revenue reported, eclipsing the $136 million earned by Mayweather’s 2007 victory over De La Hoya.
Fans will not have to shell out extra money to watch Alvarez’s fight with Clottey.
“Canelo is not fighting on pay per view,” said De La Hoya. “It’s on regular HBO for his fans.”
Clottey, who turns 37 on Oct. 6, was last in the ring for a unanimous decision over Anthony Mundine in April in the former super middleweight beltholder’s native Australia. Mundine was two bouts removed from a seventh-round stoppage of Shane Mosley last November.
Clottey has won three straight fights since losing in back-to-back fights by split- and unanimous decisions to Miguel Cotto in June 2009 and Manny Pacquiao in March 2010.