By Igor Lazorin, tass
Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya admits that Saul "Canelo" Alvarez has several potential options for his next ring return, which is slated to take place on May 5th of 2018.
Canelo was last seen back in September, during Mexican Independence Day weekend, when he fought to a twelve round split raw with IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
There are discussions take place to have a rematch on the Cinco De Mayo date for Canelo's return.
Golovkin is not the only fighter in the running to face Canelo next year.
De La Hoya states that next month's winner between Billy Joe Saunders and David Lemieux, who fight for the WBO middleweight title, will also be in the running for a Canelo fight. Both Lemieux and Canelo are promoted by Golden Boy.
But, De La Hoya also notes that Golovkin is at the top of the list as the frontrunner to face the Mexican star.
"Now we are looking at the possibilities [for Canelo's next fight].... Saunders and Lemieux, who will soon fight, and of course Golovkin - who is on the first place on our list, but so much depends on the negotiations," De La Hoya said. "Canelo wants to fight on May 5."
It will be interesting to see what will happen if Lemieux wins the fight with Saunders. The boxer has been on a big undefeated run since his loss to Golovkin in 2015 - especially with a brutal knockout of Curtis Stevens earlier this year.
Because Lemieux is also with Golden Boy, and one of their bigger names, a fight with Canelo would be easier to make than a rematch with GGG. But the rematch with Golovkin is a far bigger money-maker for the pay-per-view market. Their September meeting was the second biggest pay-per-view of the year - only rivaled by the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor showdown in August.
