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De La Hoya vows again Canelo vs. GGG in fall of 2017

Fighters Network
08
Sep

Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya again vowed that his flagship fighter Canelo Alvarez will face middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin in the fall of 2017.

De La Hoya has been pounded by fans and media alike for pushing the fight with Golovkin back and seemingly misleading fans when it will happen. But De La Hoya all but promised that Alvarez will face Golovkin in 2017, even if no written contract exists for the two to meet.

“I have been clear that Canelo will fight Golovkin at 160 pounds and we have a verbal agreement to do it in the fall of 2017,” De La Hoya said as part of an HBO blog to hype Canelo’s Sept. 17 fight with Liam Smith on HBO PPV. “But in the meantime, Canelo is going to build up to being a true middleweight.”

That process, according to De La Hoya, starts with Smith, who owns a 154-pound title. It’s not clear what a win against Smith will do to prepare Canelo for Golovkin, other than to add to his popularity in the state of Texas, where the fight will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. But Golden Boy’s vision for Alvarez is to get by Smith and then methodically start the process of rising in weight.



“The plan is to face Smith – a big, bruising 154-pounder – in September, and if Canelo emerges victorious, to start making his way up to 160 pounds and fight Golovkin on equal turf (in terms of weight),” De La Hoya said. “We envision Canelo doing a third fight in 2016 either at or close to the middleweight limit and then a fight on Cinco De Mayo at 160 before facing Golovkin in the fall.”

De La Hoya is aware of the immense fan interest in the fight and assured those who may have their doubts it will happen. “I know Canelo/Golovkin is the biggest fight to make; the fighters know it’s the biggest fight to make; and the fans know it’s the biggest fight to make,” he said. “Everyone agreed that a fight for the middleweight championship should take place at the middleweight limit and once Canelo builds up to that weight, the fight will be on.”

The Golden Boy declared that Alvarez is really a junior middleweight who collected a WBC middleweight title against Miguel Cotto last November at a catch-weight of 155 pounds. Canelo later vacated the title in May rather than face his mandatory Golovkin this fall. “As of today, Canelo is a 154-lb fighter,” De La Hoya said. “He only fought for a Middleweight championship because fans wanted a fight with Miguel Cotto, and Canelo delivered by winning that fight convincingly.”

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