By Luis Sandoval
Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya made a special appearance on BoxingScene’s official radio show The Boxing Lab to talk about the big September 15th boxing weekend in Las Vegas, NV.
One of Golden Boy’s biggest stars Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is headlining their quadruple header card at the MGM Grand as he takes on Josesito Lopez who is coming off his biggest win against Victor Ortiz.
The match up drew plenty of criticism from the media and fans as they felt Lopez, who is moving up yet another weight class to make this fight happen, it simply too small for Alvarez who is a true Light Middleweight. While many think Golden Boy may be protecting their young star, De La Hoya proves the opposite as he says he’s ready to put Alvarez in with the very best should he be victorious this Saturday night.
“I would love to see him fight against [Sergio] Maravilla Martinez for instance if he wins. I would love to see him against Floyd Mayweather. I would love to see him fight against Miguel Cotto. Absolutely. Hey, bring on [Erislandy] Lara. Bring on the other guys. Canelo Alvarez is ready” De La Hoya would tell The Boxing Lab.
That should be music to people’s ears as if they indeed do plan to put him in with those names, Canelo is sure to be tested. In fact, to Golden Boy’s credit, they did try to make 3 tough fights for Alvarez but all 3 fights with Paul Williams, James Kirkland, and Victor Ortiz fell through for different reasons. De La Hoya assures they have a plan in place and Alvarez is more than eager to get in there with the big names.
“Look, we have a plan for him and the kid is very ambitious and at 22 years old, there’s no other fighter that has accomplished what he’s accomplished outside the ring and inside the ring. I sometimes have to slow him down. I have to tell him, ‘hey, you’re going to get your turn. Be patient. You just turned 22 years old’. And he understands but he’s learning. He not only wants to be good, he wants to be great. He wants to break records and I believe he can break records” said De La Hoya.
De La Hoya does assure there are no specific plans in place for Canelo and they will determine his next move only after September 15th. While the names mentioned are true possibilities, they understand Lopez is capable of pulling another upset and won’t make the same mistake of making plans ahead of time.
You can listen to Oscar De La Hoya’s interview in its entirety by listening to The Boxing Lab podcast: http://tobtr.com/s/3623085
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.
