Canelo Alvarez didn’t necessarily dominate Erislandy Lara last Saturday in Las Vegas, but he did enough to overcome a very difficult opponent that had been widely avoided by other top names in the division. Now, all eyes are on whom Canelo will fight next.
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One name that was recently dropped by Golden Boy front man Oscar De La Hoya is Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, the IBO middleweight champion who is scheduled to face Daniel Geale at Madison Square Garden in New York on July 26. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweeted that De La Hoya mentioned Golovkin and quoted him saying “"GGG is a dangerous fighter. That's what Canelo is about."
Oscar De La Hoya drops a fascinating name for Canelo's next: Gennady Golovkin. "GGG is a dangerous fighter. That's what Canelo is about."
— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) July 13, 2014
While a matchup with Golovkin, provided he’s able to get past the veteran Geale, is mouth watering, it’s more likely that Canelo faces James Kirkland next. Kirkland is another hard-punching foe; while he doesn’t have an 89 percent knockout mark like Golovkin, his sits comfortably at 84 percent. His last fight was a savage beating of up-and-coming Glen Tapia, and he could be marketed as a serious threat to Canelo.
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“There has been talk of several rivals, but right now the one that sounds the most likely is James Kirkland. He would be a good opponent for Canelo,” Alvarez’s trainer Chepo Reynoso said. “Let’s sit down with Oscar De La Hoya in the next few days to decide on who his next opponent should be.”
WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto has also been mentioned as a possibility by De La Hoya, although a matchup with him seems to be a goal for 2015. Reynoso discussed May 2015 as a possibility, while Cotto’s trainer Freddie Roach said that’s his top goal.
"Canelo is still my number one choice,” Roach said. “He's still the biggest on pay-per-view. I want him for Cotto because Cotto is up in years a bit, and I want him to make the most money for himself at this point. But Canelo might need one more fight, maybe two, to learn a bit more. He's a good fighter, but still very green. He's got a lot to learn."
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