By Miguel Rivera
Last week, Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Manny Pacquiao, told press members that he would be interested in matching his fighter against Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez - if the Filipino star was interesting in continuing his career beyond next Saturday night.
Canelo, who holds the WBC middleweight championship, has fought his last four bouts at 155-pounds and is likely capable of getting down to 154.
Pacquiao is facing Timothy Bradley in a trilogy bout this coming Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He says the upcoming fight will be the final bout of his pro career before pursing a full-time career in politics.
Canelo's promoter, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy, has no interest in that fight in the immediate future, but he might consider that option some time down the line. Canelo will defend his belt against Amir Khan on May 7th. Khan, who fights at welterweight, is coming up by eight pounds to make the fight at 155.
Hall of Fame referee Joe Cortez, who now works as an expert analyst for ESPN Deportes, says Pacquiao would get seriously hurt in a fight of that nature.
"Manny Pacquiao is a fighter who started as a junior flyweight and eventually became a world champion at 154 pounds. But Saul Alvarez is a natural 154-pound fighter. While it looks interesting on paper, the fact still remains that Canelo would have a significant physical advantage and a significant weight advantage," Cortez said to El Vocero.
"Bob Arum is a great promoter, but Pacquiao is getting close to the the end of his career and he wants to squeeze one final payday out - but the only thing that [Arum is] going to find is Pacquiao walking away seriously hurt. Let us first see how Pacquiao looks with Bradley, because the third between the two is going to be very difficult for Manny at this point in his career."
