By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Canelo Alvarez hasn’t addressed the media since he pulled out of his rematch against Gennady Golovkin five weeks ago.
The suspended superstar has, however, heard and read a lot of what Golovkin and his trainer, Abel Sanchez, have said about him. According to one of his promoters, an agitated Alvarez wants nothing more than to take his anger out on Golovkin in a rematch he hopes happens September 15.
The 27-year-old Alvarez is particularly upset with Golovkin continually calling him “a dirty fighter.” An aggravated Golovkin has been extremely critical of Alvarez for testing positive for clenbuterol, for claiming contaminated meat caused him to fail two performance-enhancing drug tests in February and for refusing to remain enrolled in the WBC’s “Clean Boxing Program” even after causing their rematch to be canceled.
Mexcio’s Alvarez maintains his innocence and has taken great offense to Golovkin’s criticism, according to Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez.
“He wants to rip Gennady’s head off,” Gomez told BoxingScene.com during a press event Wednesday for the Sadam Ali-Jaime Munguia fight Saturday night. “Gennady has taken a lot of cheap shots at him. … So, you know, if they really wanna do the fight, if they’re not afraid, then let’s do the fight. Canelo has something ready for Golovkin. He has just pissed off a lion.”
Abel Sanchez, Golovkin’s trainer, stated following Golovkin’s second-round knockout of Vanes Martirosyan, Alvarez’s late replacement Saturday night, that the increasingly personal beef between Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) and Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) should make for a more fan-friendly fight if their rematch is rescheduled.
Gomez just hopes he and Tom Loeffler, Golovkin’s promoter, can hammer out a new deal for their rematch as soon as possible. He hopes Golovkin and his handlers aren’t serious about pursuing such alternatives as middleweight title fights against WBA world champ Ryota Murata (14-1, 11 KOs), WBO champ Billy Joe Saunders (26-0, 12 KOs), WBA mandatory challenger Daniel Jacobs (34-2, 29 KOs), WBC mandatory contender Jermall Charlo (27-0, 21 KOs) or IBF mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko (12-0, 10 KOs).
“We’ll see,” Gomez said. “If they’re not afraid, let’s get the contracts signed. We’re ready to go. They’re the ones coming up with all these ideas and, you know, ‘We don’t know if we’re gonna fight him next or not,’ and all this bullsh*t.’ Come on, put your money where your mouth is.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
