Canelo could face Rosado-Monroe winner or Saunders in December

Aug

Photo by: Tom Hogan / Hoganphotos / Golden Boy Promotions

The plans for Canelo Alvarez’s possible fight in December if he gets by Liam Smith are starting to become clearer.

Golden Boy VP Eric Gomez said he intends to speak with promoter Frank Warren, who promotes both Smith and Billy Joe Saunders, about the possibility of matching the WBO middleweight titleholder with Alvarez.

At the same time, Gomez also pegged the winner of Gabriel Rosado’s middleweight fight with Willie Monroe Jr. on the Canelo-Smith Sept. 17 undercard, as another candidate to face Alvarez next. So as it stands, Saunders and the winner of Rosado-Monroe appear to be the leading candidates for Canelo’s final fight of 2016.

“The big prize is Canelo,” Gomez said on a conference call on Monday to hype the Sept. 17 undercard at AT&T Stadium on HBO PPV. “The winner of (Rosado-Monroe) could very well be fighting Canelo in December.”

Gomez was trying to make a fight involving Saunders against either Rosado or Monroe on the Sept. 17 undercard but Saunders elected to pass on those options. Gomez said he is still open to making Canelo-Saunders for December and hopes to speak to Warren about it.

“We’re keeping all the doors open,” Gomez said. “Obviously, we weren’t able to get the fight done with Billy Joe Saunders. I haven’t closed the door yet. But look, we got two guys that are going to go at it. This is a real fight. Gabe wants to prove that he still belongs and is in the upper echelon of boxing. And Willie Monroe wants to do the same thing. If these guys put on a great fight and a great show, we’re going to keep all avenues open, all doors open. I don’t see why the winner of this fight shouldn’t get a Canelo fight.”

Gomez described the talks between a Canelo-Saunders match as “stalled” but expects to speak with Warren “the week of the fight” to see if they can be picked up again. Rosado (23-9, 13 knockouts) and Monroe (20-2, 6 KOs), who will fight in the PPV co-feature, didn’t take the bait and refused to discuss the potential to face Alvarez in December on the conference call.

“I know not to even think ahead,” Rosado said. “They can say that Canelo is next. That don’t mean nothing if I don’t win the fight. I’m just thinking about winning this fight and looking good. I want to do it by knockout.”