Last week fans who bet on boxing were disappointed by the news that Saul Canelo Alvarez vacated the WBC Middleweight Title – which was immediately awarded to Gennady Golovkin – in order to avoid “artificial deadlines.” The World Boxing Council had decreed that a championship fight between Alvarez and the mandatory No. 1 contender GGG must be settled on by both parties involved within a fortnight, or else – to which Canelo basically said to take your belt and shove it (rumors that he didn’t know what the word fortnight means have not been confirmed). Recent developments have made the boxing betting mega-fight even more unlikely in the near future.
Alvarez is currently in a Miami courthouse with promoter Oscar de la Hoya, the latter of whom has been sued for punitive damages by fellow promoter Felix “Tuto” Zabala Jr. and his company, All-Star Boxing. Zabala alleges that Golden Boy Promotions stole Alvarez one year after had signed a four-year contract with All-Star Boxing in 2008. Legend has it that Saul Caramelo Alvarez was a mulatto boxing betting sensation until de la Hoya poached him, bleached his skin, dyed his hair red, and gave him the nickname Canelo – that is to say, he pulled a Shakira.
The court case could last until early June, which is when Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler is expected to return to Los Angeles from Europe. According to Loeffler, negotiations are not dead. In fact, both camps will now discuss a revised purse split after Alvarez rejected a 55%-45% split on the grounds that he is more popular – and to be fair, Alvarez did outsell about four times as many pay-per-views in his knockout of Amir Khan than Golovkin did in his win over David Lemieux. So those people who bet on boxing who claim that Alvarez is a sell-out may actually make more than just one good point. Additionally, Alvarez might also want to fight at a catch-weight below the middleweight limit of 160 lbs. That’s what you call throwing your weight around.
If they can reach an agreement, the match could take place on September 17th at the AT&T Stadium outside Dallas. But if they don’t, fans who bet on boxing might have to wait until early 2017 – and in the meantime the two boxers would seek alternative opponents. Loeffler went on to say that while de la Hoya and Canelo are busy with the lawsuit and need to focus on that at the moment, there is still time to make the fight happen in September – but of course he did not specify September of what year. At this rate, when – and if – this bout actually happens, they could easily market it as Mayweather vs. Pacquiao II.