By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – If you’re holding out hope Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin will fight later this year, you’re not going to be encouraged by what Alvarez said Tuesday after a press conference to promote his May 7 pay-per-view fight against Amir Khan.
“The fight’s gonna get made,” Alvarez said regarding Golovkin. “Is it gonna happen this year? I don’t know. I can’t say. I don’t negotiate my fights. But if the conditions are right and the conditions are met, all the details of the fight, that’s cool. Let’s do it.”
The WBC has mandated that the winner of its middleweight title bout between Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) and Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas must face Golovkin in his next bout. While Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) and his handlers understandably expect a fight for the WBC middleweight championship to be contested at the division maximum of 160 pounds, Alvarez reiterated multiple times Tuesday that he’s “not a middleweight” and can comfortably make the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds.
The Mexican superstar also made it clear that Golovkin will have to make some concessions, presumably weight-related, if the highly anticipated Golovkin-Alvarez showdown is to become a reality. Alvarez declined to discuss specific concessions because he said he is focused on facing Khan in two months.
“Look, I’ve given up many concessions,” Alvarez said. “I’ve given up many advantages. I’ve done it throughout my career to get to this point, where I’m at. I’m not gonna give any concessions or any advantages to Triple-G. I’m in the position now where I deserve [that advantage] and I’ve earned my spot.
“So is the fight gonna get made? It’s gonna get made. OK? But the conditions have to be right. I have to feel comfortable. And sure, he has to feel comfortable as well. But the one thing I’m not gonna do, is I’m not gonna give up any more advantages or concessions, which I’ve done throughout my career to get to where I’m at.”
The 25-year-old Alvarez was referring to facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. at a maximum catch weight of 152 pounds in September 2013 and his prolonged negotiations with Miguel Cotto for their Nov. 21 fight in Las Vegas.
“The Cotto fight was something that took a long time to negotiate,” said Alvarez, who defeated Cotto by unanimous decision to win the WBC middleweight championship. “We had the fight done earlier in the year, and then it fell apart. We were negotiating with Top Rank, and he ends going to Roc Nation. We start a whole new set of negotiations. So, believe it or not, the Cotto fight took almost two years to get made.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
