By Miguel Rivera
Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. says his countryman, WBO junior middleweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (48-1-1, 34KOs), will need Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (36-0, 33KOs) if he intends to sell a million buys on pay-per-view.
Chavez explains that Canelo needs a very good B-Side to compliment his own superstar standing when it comes to a pay-per-view event.
When Canelo faced Miguel Cotto last year, he was able to generate over 900,000 buys because Cotto is an established pay-per-view attraction. But when Canelo returned in May and fought Amir Khan, who was making his pay-per-view debut as a headliner, the event reportedly did half of what Canelo-Cotto was able to generate on PPV.
Last Saturday's fight with Liam Smith at the AT&T Stadium in Texas was a very tough sell on pay-per-view. Most insiders expect that show to generate less buys than Canelo's fight with Khan. Smith is unknown to the majority of the American public and almost nobody, including in the UK, was giving him a shot to win the fight.
The fight between Canelo and Golovkin is arguably the biggest match possible in boxing and the only fight where a buyrate of a million or better is possible.
"For Canelo to sell one million homes, he definitely needs Golovkin. There must be a complement [to himself]. The fight with 'Macho' Camacho was a complement to myself, the fight Whitaker was a complement to myself, " said Chavez Sr.
Canelo suffered a hand injury during the knockout victory of Smith. He is going to be out for the remainder or the year and many believe he won't fight again until Cinco De Mayo weekend in May of 2017. Canelo will need a strong dance partner for the May date and it likely won't be Golovkin. There are ongoing talks to face Golovkin - but in September of 2017 during Mexican Independence Day weekend.