By Miguel Rivera
Simply put - Saul "Canelo" Alvarez feels betrayed by the World Boxing Council.
He thinks it was unfair at how the sanctioning body treated him when he was the WBC middleweight champion last year. Canelo claims the organization tried to bully him into making a rapid decision on a mandatory defense against Gennady Golovkin.
At the time period in question, the Mexican superstar was on trial in a serious lawsuit in Miami, where he was being sued for millions of dollars by former promoter Tuto Zabala.
The sanctioning body gave him 15 days to make a decision on Golovkin. They refused to extend the time period and Canelo responded by vacating the belt - which the WBC then gave over to Golovkin.
Canelo (48-1-1, 34 KOs) is still very angry at the sanctioning body and rejected their request to present a special Cinco De Mayo belt to the winner of Canelo's upcoming fight on Saturday with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in Las Vegas. The belt was created by the Huichol community in Mexico.
"The problem we have with the WBC is because of what happened when we left the middleweight belt vacant," said Canelo to ESPN Deportes.
"They said that I gave them the belt because I did not want to fight with Golovkin - that was not the way it was, they were pressuring us when we had a lawsuit in Miami, we were in court, we could not do both at the same time."
"We decided to leave [the belt] and take care of the priority [in Miami] because we were being pressured. I won that belt and that title based on sacrifice, sweat, blood, everything I did to win that belt was great. It was a great fight for Mexican boxing between Miguel Cotto and myself. Then the WBC goes and gives it someone else without that person breaking a drop of sweat. What respect are you are going to have for a sanctioning body that goes and gives away a fighter's belt and to someone who never fought for it."
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar de la Hoya, who works with Canelo, is fully backing his position on this matter.
"This fight goes beyond championships or belts. Canelo has the right to accept or not accept the belt. We are with him in whatever decision he makes," De La Hoya said.
