Does Oscar De la Hoya Have An Update On Canelo Alvarez’s Next Fight?

Several boxing entities have been strategically planning fights until the moment is right to bring fans in venues. As a result of COVID-19, it is unknown when that will exactly be. With Golden Boy’s return set for late July, what does Oscar De La Hoya have planned up his sleeve?

The above question is extremely important when it comes to prized fighter Canelo Alvarez.

Signing an 11-fight, $365 million with DAZN, Canelo (53-1-2) is looking to continue his path to securing gold in various weight classes. De la Hoya ended up telling The Ring that Canelo wouldn’t mind a bout that took place around 160-175 pounds. As far as having Canelo in the ring during the pandemic, De La Hoya discussed the complexities that can surround that.

“If you take that fight to Las Vegas, to T-Mobile Arena, is it gonna be open to the public? We just don’t know yet,” De la Hoya stated, via Bad Left Hook. “We know that Bob Arum has been doing smaller shows, I believe with no audience, or maybe some audience, but it’s really not gonna be enough people to generate the monies that are being paid out. That’s a big problem. That’s one of our big concerns. How do we pay Canelo, and how do we pay his opponent? And plus, you have to expense out the four fights that are on the undercard and all the testing that we have to do. It’s a major concern, but we’ll figure it out.”

According to Golden Boy Promotions President Eric Gomez, Canelo is interested in fighting without an audience in September. The only concern would be who his opponent would be. Caleb Plant has called out the middleweight king, while Callum Smith’s team would love a crack at Canelo. There have been talks about Canelo and Billy Joe Saunders fighting, as that was a rumored bout in May. Saunders is looking to get his license back following controversial statements he made about hitting women that got him suspended.

Canelo has gone 11-0-1 in his last twelve fights since losing to Floyd Mayweather in 2013. He has faced and beaten Erislandy Lara, Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Liam Smith, Daniel Jacobs, and Sergey Kovalev. During that time, he has won the WBC, WBA, IBF, and The Ring Middleweight Titles, while also winning WBO Light-Middleweight and Light-Heavyweight gold. He drew with Gennadiy Golovkin in 2017 and beat him in the rematch in 2018. Is a trilogy bout a possibility?

“A fight with Gennadiy Golovkin, we need a gate. We need people, we need a crowd,” De La Hoya went on to say. “And until we know what Las Vegas is gonna do, we can’t pull the trigger on anything regarding a Canelo fight. Believe me, we’re working every single day, trying to see what we can come up with and to make sure that everyone is happy, and to make sure that when Gennadiy fights and Canelo fights, it’s the best thing for everybody.”

Golovkin ended up stating he is will be delaying a trilogy bout to focus on a middleweight contest against Kamil Szeremeta. It is unknown when that fight will be planned for. Ryota Murata and David Benavidez are also on the table for Canelo if Golovkin is unavailable.

De La Hoya is currently planning for Golden Boy’s return on July 24 in California. Vergil Ortiz Jr. will main event the fanless card against Samuel Vargas.