By Jake Donovan
The expectation heading into the World middleweight championship clash between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Miguel Cotto was that the winner would have 15 days to decide on whether to honor a mandatory title fight with Gennady Golovkin or vacate the title.
Of course, rules are made to be broken in boxing – although it was a good thing in this particular instance, as long as all parties ultimately act in good faith.
Rather than cornering Alvarez – who won by 12-round decision - into making an immediate decision, the World Boxing Council (WBC) agreed to extend its initial deadline to December 11 and then again to December 14. The move allowed both camps to continue discussion of a potential clash, although both acknowledging it wasn’t going to be next in line.
The outcome was that Alvarez and Golovkin – who holds the WBA, IBF and IBO titles in addition to the WBC interim title – would each be granted an optional title fight, but with a final deal in place by the earlier of May 31, 2016 or 15 days following their respective ring appearances.
Whether or not it’s viewed as progress is in the eye of the beholder. As far as Alvarez and his team is concerned, it’s breathing room in its quest to reclaim Mexico’s two biggest holiday weekends – Cinco de Mayo (in May, for those who can’t decipher the translation) and Grito de Dolores (“Cry of Dolores”, which is Mexico’s Independence Day in September)
“It was a positive step in the right direction,” Golden Boy Vice President Eric Gomez told BoxingScene.com. “You know, it’s great when the sanctioning bodies are willing to work with you rather than against you, and we have to give credit to Mauricio Sulaiman and the WBC in their efforts to building towards the biggest fight that can be made.”
Alvarez plans to return to the ring on May 7, making the first defense of his World (and WBC) middleweight championship. Golovkin was originally eyeing a ring return in late February or early March, with the possibility of another fight in May or June as the unbeaten knockout artist from Kazakhstan likes to remain as active as possible.
Those plans could shift depending on how talks go between Golden Boy Promotions and K2 Promotions (Golovkin’s promoter). The two sides have done business in the past, most recently in Golovkin’s one-sided destruction of David Lemieux in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden in October. The working theory is that they are once again ready to do business, although with the fight coming when the time is right for all parties involved.
“We have a terrific relationship with Tom Loeffler and the staff at K2 Promotions,” Gomez points out, as K2 is one of many promoters with whom Golden Boy has done business since reshaping its enterprise last year. “We worked well together with Gennady Golovkin’s fight with David Lemieux. The fight didn’t turn out the way we hoped, of course. But we got the result we wanted with Canelo’s historic win over Miguel Cotto.”
The latter victory earned Alvarez the distinction of becoming the first-ever boxer from Mexico to lay claim to the World (lineal) middleweight championship. The hope is that he also becomes the boxing rich nation’s first to successfully defend the crown.
Of course, he needs a dance partner to make that happen. One working theory – among boxing fans, anyway – was that the winner of this weekend’s crossroads bout between Joshua Clottey and Gabriel Rosado emerges as a frontrunner. The two meet this Saturday at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, with their bout to air via same-day tape delay on HBO Latino.
The suggestion of such a scenario is one that Golden Boy plans to embrace, but claims to have not yet given much thought.
“To be honest, we haven’t even begun to discuss it yet,” Gomez said. “Canelo is enjoying life as new middleweight champion of the world; he’s on vacation taking some much deserved time off. We won’t talk about his next fight until after the holidays.
“No names have been mentioned. Maybe the winner of (Clottey vs. Rosado) is discussed, but it’s by no means an eliminator or anything. Joshua was a potential opponent in the past and a win on Saturday could put him back on Canelo’s radar. Gabriel Rosado, he’s always a win away from being back in a big fight. There are a lot of options, Saturday’s winner being one of many.”
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
