By Rick Reeno
After a very active run, WBC 154-pound champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (41-0-1, 30KOs) is planning to relax until Cinco De Mayo weekend. As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, Canelo met last week with Golden Boy Promotions to discuss his future.
Canelo is shooting for a ring return on May 4th, one of the most lucrative weekends in boxing, and he wants a major opponent. Three names are on his list - WBA 154-pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26KOs), former three division world champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 20KOs), and WBC middleweight king Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28KOs).
Mayweather's plans are still a mystery, although rumors suggest that a ring return is being planned for the first half of 2013. Cotto has to overcome a difficult test on December 1, when he faces junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (25-0, 14KOs) in New York's Madison Square Garden. Martinez, who next month will undergo surgery on his right knee, should be ready to fight by April. Martinez has no problem with fighting Canelo at 154-pounds.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO, Richard Schaefer, told BoxingScene.com that any of the three fighters on Canelo's list is possible for May 4. Schaefer has a close working relationship with both Mayweather and Cotto. Although Schaefer doesn't exactly get along with Martinez's promoter, Lou DiBella, the Golden CEO does have a working relationship with Martinez's adviser Sampson Lewkowicz. And while Schaefer and DiBella have butted heads on several topics, they are not beyond the realm of working together to make a lucrative fight.
"We had different scenarios for Canelo. He could have fought in December, he could have fought in January. As I said, following his great win on September 15th [against Josesito Lopez]- he can fight when he wants to fight. He said that he wants to fight on May 4th and he wants a big fight. He said, in no particular order - [he wants] Mayweather, Cotto, Maravilla Martinez. Either one of those, he doesn't care," Schaefer said to BoxingScene.com.
"He wants a big fight. He believes he's ready and we believe he's ready. Every test you put in front to him, he passes with flying colors."
