By Rick Reeno
Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum will be an interested observer when Saul "Canelo" Alvarez challenges WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto on November 21 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
If Canelo wins that fight, then Arum plans to sit down with Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions to work out a potential fight with WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (33-1-1, 13KOs).
Bradley, now trained by Teddy Atlas, returned on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, where he stopped Brandon Rios in nine rounds.
A fight with Canelo (45-1-1, 32KOs) would take place at 154 or 155. Canelo would have a significant size and strength advantage in the fight.
Bradley's close friend, WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford, believes he can pull it off.
“I think Bradley would be competitive in anybody’s fight, fighting anybody because that’s just the type of person he is. When you doubt him, he rises to the occasion," Crawford said to BoxingScene.com.
Another fighter who believes the upset is possible is Jessie Vargas, who had Bradley in a lot of trouble in the twelfth round of their collision earlier this year.
"Bradley has the talent. I think he beats Canelo in skill and technique, but Canelo is the bigger guy, he's a strong fighter, he's a hungry guy too, he's durable, he's young - it would be a tough task for him as well," Vargas told BoxingScene.com.
"I give [Bradley] a shot at winning the rounds by decision, but will he be able to last the full twelve - that's what I'm not sure about, because of Canelo's size and strength."
