By Carlos Boogs
Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya expects Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) to continue his fast rise as a superstar in the sport.
Canelo is scheduled to fight WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs), at a catch-weight of 155-pounds, on November 21st at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The bout will headline an HBO Pay-Per-View event.
In September 2012, Canelo sold out the MGM Grand for his bout with Josesito Lopez. In April 2013, he drew nearly 40,000 fans to witness his win over Austin Trout at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Later that year he faced Floyd Mayweather Jr. The fight was a sellout at the MGM Grand and generated 2.2 million purchases on pay-per-view.
With all of these accomplishments, Canelo is still only 25-years-old.
How much bigger can Canelo get?
De La Hoya believes he can get bigger than the two superstars who dominated this era - Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather retired last month and Pacquiao is planning to retire after his next fight in early 2016.
"If you take a look at my career at 25-years-old, I probably wasn't near or up to par to where he's at. Manny Pacquiao was nowhere even close [at 25]. Mayweather was not even close to being where [Canelo] is at 25. So I think he's ahead of the ball game. I think he's ahead of the curve. I think he can be bigger than all three of us.
At this age he's on the right track," De La Hoya said.
"Me, as a promoter, my job is to give him the choices and guide him to superstardom. He has to do his job in the ring obviously and I think that we make a great team. We're going to accomplish our goals very soon."
"He has that 'it factor.' Tyson had it, Muhammad Ali had it. Pacquiao, Mayweather and myself had it. It's just that 'it factor' that people gravitate towards."
