Schaefer: Canelo Could Face Mayweather-Ortiz Winner

By Lem Satterfield

BoxingScene.com was able to round up this Q&A with Golden Boy Promotions' CEO Richard Schaefer, whose company seems to be on a roll as of late.

On Tuesday, Golden Boy Promotions announced that 34-year-old six-time champion Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) will take on 24-year-old WBC welterweight king Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22KOs) on Sept. 17.

The announcement came in the wake of Golden Boy Promotions and eight-division and WBO welterweight titlist Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 knockouts) having reached a mutual agreement in the settlement of a lawsuit last month, a move that appears to have thawed the icy rift in the working relationship between Golden Boy and Pacquiao's Top Rank Promotions and its CEO, Bob Arum.

Golden Boy Promotions will also match 24-year-old WBA junior welterweight champions Amir Khan (25-1, 17KOs) against 33-year-old southpaw IBF titlist Zab Judah (41-6, 28KOs) on July 23 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.

Also on the horizon is a June 18 clash matching Golden Boy's 20-year-old WBC junior middleweight belt-holder Saul Alvarez (36-0-1, 26 KOs) in a mandatory defense of his crown against England's 34-year-old Ryan Rhodes (45-4, 31 KOs).

If Alvarez defeats Rhodes, there has been some discussion that he could possibly land on the pay-per-view undercard to Mayweather-Ortiz. Alvarez had been slated to return on September 17.

There is also a June 25, non-title, junior welterweight match up between 28-year-old Argentinian Lucas Matthysse (28-1, 26 KOs) of Golden Boy Promotions and southpaw former WBC titlist Devon Alexander (21-1, 13 KOs) of promoter Don King.

Golden Boy Promotions is also matching 28-year-old Cuban native Erislandy Lara (15-0-1, 10 KOs) in a clash of southpaws opposite 29-year-old former three-time champion Paul Williams (39-2, 27 KOs) on July 9.
 
In March, Alvarez earned the crown with a unanimous decision over England's Matthew Hatton (41-5-2, 16 KOs), the younger brother of former world champion, Ricky Hatton.

In April, Ortiz survived two knockdowns and scored two of his own during a unanimous decision that dethroned previously unbeaten WBC king Andre Berto (27-1, 21KOs).

Last month, 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs) became the oldest fighter in the history of the sport to win a significant world title, dethroning Canada's 28-year-old Jean Pascal (26-2-1, 16 KOs) as WBC light heavyweight champion.

Hopkins' effort came at a point when he was 192 days older than when 45-year-old George Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer in the 10th round on November 5, 1994, to become the eldest man to win a heavyweight crown.

Hopkins-Pascal was a rematch of December's controversial majority draw when the former undisputed middleweight titlist from Philadelphia had appeared to have out-boxed Pascal for the victory despite having been twice floored during the bout.

Schaefer said that is enthused not only about the past, but about the future of Golden Boy, including the potential for making big fights that involve fighters from Top Rank Promotions, including those featuring Alvarez opposite eight-division titlist and WBO king Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 knockouts) and WBC middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez (43-0-1, 30 KOs) of Mexico.

BoxingScene.com: Fair to say that you guys are on a bit of a roll?

Richard Schaefer: That's what we're trying to do. There's a reason why. First with Canelo Alvarez against Matthew Hatton, and then with Victor Ortiz against Andre Berto, and Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal.

Now, you have Zab Judah and Amir Khan, and Floyd Mayweather and Victor ortiz. We're putting some fights together which are just dream fights. These are unbelievable match ups and the results speak for themselves.

I mean, if you look at those first three that I mentioned, they are among the highest-rated boxing events over a three-year period on HBO.

BoxingScene.com: How much can the fans look forward to the prospects of your making similarly big fights through collaboration with Top Rank Promotions and their fighters?

RS: Well, you know, I think if the right opportunity presents itself, then you know, Bob Arum and I, we shook on it. So then, we will work together if there is a compelling match up.

BoxingScene.com: How realistic are potential fights featuring Canelo Alvarez against either Manny Pacquiao, Julio Cesar Chavez or Floyd Mayweather?

RS: You know, Saul Alvarez is 20 years young. And, I am sure that these fights will come. But right now, he's got a very, very tough fight with Ryan Rhodes ahead of him.

I don't want to talk about anything else, and, frankly, neither should Saul Alvarez. Because I have to tell you, I'm a little bit nervous about the fight. I really am, because this guy is a huge puncher.

And he's a natural 154-pounder, if not, a 160-pounder. So he's a bigger guy and a stronger guy. So he's older, but so was Bernard Hopkins.

So age is relative. But the fact is that he's a big puncher and he's an experienced guy. So I'm very nervous about it and I really, really don't want to talk about what's next for Saul.

But could I see potentially a fight where, you know, Canelo is involved with like the winner of a Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight? Absolutely.

BoxingScene.com: Really?

RS: Well, we've learned lessons on talking about things like that. We've done it before, and I know that Bob Arum has done it as well where you wait too long for a fight to make it happen.

You think that it has to be built and that it's going to be bigger down the road, but you know, you have to keep in mind that on any given night, anybody can win. That's what makes boxing so exciting.

On any given night, anyone can win. If you land the right punch, or you get hit by the right punch, anyone can go down and the fight can be over with.

That's why sometimes, it's not good to wait for these things to happen. One guy may be too young, and another guy may be too inexperienced or whatever.

But if there is a public demand there, where they want to see a fight, then we always try to get those fights done. That doesn't mean that we always succeed.

But we always try to give our guys the opportunities that they deserve. That's what we did with Victor Ortiz against Andre Berto. You know, a lot of people felt that that was not a good fight for Victor and so on.

But we believed in Victor, and that's why we gave him the opportunity, and you see what happened. The same is with Lucas Matthysse fighting Devon Alexander in a couple of weeks.

People are saying, 'Well, you know, that's a tough fight,' and so on and so on. But you know what? We like our chances in that fight, and we think that Lucas Matthysse is going to come out victorious.

Just like we think with Erislandy Lara against Paul Williams. He's got a great amateur background, and the guy is ready for somebody like Paul Williams. For our young fighters like a Lucas Matthysse or an Erislandy Lara, or a Victor Ortiz or any of those guys, to get these opportunities to fight an established guy, you know what?

You jump on these opportunities and you go with it. And again, I like our chances to win all of those fights.