By Luis Sandoval

Everyone is anticipating who Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will be fighting on September 15th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV. Golden Boy has been working diligently to find a suitable replacement after a staggering three possible opponents have pulled out for various reasons.

BoxingScene caught up with both Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions match maker Eric Gomez and asked for an update on Canelo’s opponent.

“We’re in negotiations now and I think by Friday, this Friday, we should be able to finalize,” shared Gomez.

At the Ortiz-Lopez press conference, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said they were looking at the three possible opponents. Rumors have been running rampant as to who is the front runner to land the fight but no solid conclusions have surfaced.

What we know is that as of now, Golden Boy promotions has not chosen an opponent but the anticipation continues to build.

“There’s no decision [on Alvarez’s opponent] whatsoever,” informed De La Hoya as he watched Amir Khan train at the Wild Card Gym. “I feel we’ve been working on it day in and day out. We’ve had a few opponents fall out for various reasons but the anticipation is unbelievable. I’m getting calls from all over the world of people wanting to know who Canelo Alvarez is fighting”.

“Let’s put it this way - history, will you be part of it? That’s all I can say. Will you be part of it because it will be history,” said De La Hoya.

Many were surprised that Golden Boy Promotions decided to still go ahead with a September 15th date after Victor Ortiz suffered a loss and became the third opponent forced to pull out of a Canelo Alvarez fight. Promotional rival Top Rank will be putting on a fight on the same date and right down the street in Las Vegas, NV when Julio Cesar Chavez Jr squares off against middleweight kingpin Sergio Martinez at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Moving the date was never an option for Golden Boy.

“No, not at all. We had the date first. We secured the date first. We secured it with the commission and we secured it with television. [Top Rank] can do what they want and we can do what we want,” said Gomez.

More to come on this story in the next few days were hopefully an opponent for Alvarez will be announced.

You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter @Truewest007. You can also tune in to The Boxing Lab, Boxingscene’s official audio show every Tuesday from 6-8PM PST with hosts Ernest Gabion, Luis Sandoval, and Ryan Burton.