Canelo Alvarez's stock is fully rebuilt. After being outclassed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013 Alvarez has won his last three fights against well-respected opponents. He knocked out two tough brawlers in Alfredo Angulo and James Kirkland, while escaping with a split decision vs. Erislandy Lara, one of the slickest fighters in the sport.
He's now staring at two potential big-money fights-one is against WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, in a fight that would be the biggest Mexico vs. Puerto Rico clash since Oscar De La Hoya fought Felix "Tito" Trinidad. The other, less likely, fight is against WBA and IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
Golovkin, who has knocked out 20 straight opponents and has a perfect record, is the mandatory challenger for Cotto's belt. However, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said that if Cotto and Alvarez agree that the winner between them guarantees Golovkin the next bout, he will sanction their fight. Cotto offers more financial reward, and likely less health risk; Willie Monroe Jr., fresh off a TKO loss to Golovkin on Saturday, said he thinks Alvarez would be able to hand Golovkin his first loss though.
"He [Golovkin] probably beats Cotto, but I think he'd have problems with Canelo. Canelo has fast hands, and Canelo fights well on the inside," Monroe told Fight Hype.
"Canelo is very strong himself. So I think he'd have some problems with Canelo, but with Cotto, if he goes heads up, I give him [Golovkin] the power edge. I think Canelo would be a little too fast for him because my speed gave him some problems today, and Canelo has very fast hands. I would have to give the edge to Canelo if they were to fight. Triple G fights a lot like Cotto. It would be about who gets off first."
Fans eager to see Alvarez face Golovkin shouldn't be too dissatisfied if he winds up facing Cotto in what would promise to be an intriguing tactical fight that comes with action. Golovkin himself said he'd love to fight Alvarez, but sees it as a fight for 2016.
"I think me and Canelo at 160 is a good fight for next May. He's ready for 160, maybe on Cinco de Mayo something like that because first he wants to fight Cotto at 154," Golovkin said last week after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers game.
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