Photo: Top Rank/Mikey Williams
Photo/courtesy: David Spagnolo/Main Events
Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy, has issued the following statement in response to the International Boxing Federation’s decision to strip middleweight world champion, Canelo Alvarez.
“We are extremely disappointed at the IBF for forcing the world’s best fighter to relinquish his world title. We have been in serious negotiations with Sergiy Derevyanchenko’s promoter. We offered his team an unprecedented amount of money for a fighter of his limited stature and limited popularity, but the truth is that I’m now certain they never had any intention of making a deal. But instead they wanted to force us to relinquish Canelo’s belt. This is an insult to boxing and more importantly an insult to the boxing fans of the world. This decision validates already existing concerns about the credibility of the IBF championship. Canelo inherited a mandatory challenger by defeating Daniel Jacobs, the man who beat Derevyanchenko, so to strip him of his title without giving him enough time to make the best fight possible is truly what is wrong with boxing, and I plan to aggressively consider all legal actions possible.”
According to The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger, Alvarez is in serious discussions to fight Demetrius Andrade for a middleweight unification bout. Should be very interesting to see how this situation plays out.
Unified middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez will not fight in September, Golden Boy Promotions announced today.
There were talks he could go up to 175 to fight Sergey Kovalev or possibly a third fight with Gennady Golovkin, but in the end, Alvarez and his team have decided that fighting in September, during Mexican Independence Day weekend, is not best for Alvarez.
Here is a statement from Golden Boy Promotions:
“Golden Boy and Canelo Alvarez have made the strategic decision to postpone their typical September fight. The decision was made in an effort to secure the right opponent and to do justice to the level of promotion required for a boxing star of his magnitude. Though Canelo typically fights in May and September, it is not without precedent to fight later in the year as Canelo did fight in December of 2018 in Madison Square Garden. Canelo’s next fight will now take place later in 2019.
“As a Mexican, it’s a responsibility and an honor to represent my country in both May and September,” said Canelo Alvarez. “Those are my dates. However, as a world champion in multiple weight classes, I also have the responsibility of delivering the most exciting and competitive fights possible. That’s why Golden Boy and my team have decided to postpone the date in order to do right by my fans by promoting the best fight possible and with the best opponent possible.”
In front of a sold out crowd of his hometown fans, WBC Middleweight World Champion Jermall Charlo defended his new title for the first time and kept his unbeaten record in dominating fashion against Brandon Adams Saturday night at NRG Arena live on SHOWTIME.
In a near-shutout unanimous decision, Charlo (29-0, 21 KOs) won by the scores of 120-108 (twice) and 119-109.
In his first defense since being elevated to WBC Middleweight Champion on Wednesday, Charlo methodically picked apart the much smaller Adams (21-3, 13 KOs), a Los Angeles native who earned his title shot by winning the 2018 reboot of The Contender. Despite an injury to his left hand, Charlo recorded double digit connects in every round but the first while limiting the resilient and durable Adams to single digit connects in all but the final round.
Charlo was unable to punctuate his dominating display with the knockout he craved in front of the 6,408 fans who saw him headline in his hometown for the first time in his career. Despite that, Charlo was even more active than usual and led 151-73 overall in total punches landed and 118-42 in power punches connected. Charlo also made a concerted effort to attack the body, landing more shots to the body than in any his last five fights.
“I wasn’t frustrated that I didn’t get the knockout,” Charlo told SHOWTIME’s ringside reporter Jim Gray following the fight. “This is boxing and he came out to box. I came out to fight. It was a good fight. The city of Houston, I’ll be back.
“My hand will be alright. I hurt my hand in like the second round but I kept throwing it. It was obvious my jab wasn’t flowing.”
“I was coming up here to win,” said Adams. “I was coming to try to take him out in his hometown. He did what he was supposed to do. He’s a champ for a reason and I take my hat off to hm.
“He’s a much bigger guy, period. I just tried to put my best foot forward and tried to take him out at the end.”
Looking ahead to what’s next, Charlo fired a warning shot to his fiercest competitors in the middleweight division.
“Canelo has done a great job of being a champ, Golovkin also,” said Charlo. “Those guys are at the top, but there’s always a young underdog and a lion ready to take over. That’s me.”
WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade has become a very active fighter, and on Saturday, Andrade will be fighting for the third time in eight months. Before signing with Matchroom Boxing last summer, Andrade had not fought since 2017.
Now, Andrade(27-0, 17 KOs) has a belt and is looking to do big things at 160. On Saturday, he will make his second middleweight title defense, in his hometown, against Maciej Sulecki (28-1, 11 KOs) at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, and live exclusively on DAZN.
“One thing that we have promised Andrade and his team is activity,” Hearn said on Thursday. “This is his third fight in eight months, and I believe we will see a very special performance from him. In Sulecki, he brings it every single time. He is in great fights. He has a chance to thrust himself into life-changing, legacy fights with a win here. He will do everything he can to beat Demetrius on Saturday night because he understands those odds.”
Canelo Alvarez has all the belts at 160, except for one, and that is WBO belt that is held by Andrade. Therefore, it’s only logical that the winner of Andrade-Sulecki should fight Alvarez next, so says Andrade’s promoter, Eddie Hearn.
“Everyone keeps talking about Canelo-GGG for September,” Hearn said on Thursday. “I understand that people are interested in seeing that fight again, but what about Canelo against the winner of this fight for the undisputed status? That’s the biggest fight to make at middleweight.”
Andrade might not be the biggest fight for Canelo, but it is a fight that puts him in control of all the belts, so what that being said, Canelo should fight the winner of Andrade-Sulecki next. However, don’t be surprised if that does not happen.
Canelo Alvarez (52-1-2, 34 KOs) successfully defended his WBC, WBA, Lineal and Ring Magazine Middleweight World Titles and became the new IBF Middleweight World Champion by defeating Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) via 12-round unanimous decision. Canelo with with two scores of 115-113 and one score of 116-112.
The champion-vs.-champion event took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and was streamed exclusively live on DAZN
No controversy in this fight. The right guy won on Saturday night.
“It was just what we thought,” said Canelo Alvarez. “We knew he was going to be a difficult fighter, but thank God we did things the right way, what we were going to do. It was just what we thought because of the style of fight that he brings but we just did our job.”
On Daniel Jacobs switching to southpaw during the fight: “It’s normal. It’s obviously just a matter of adapting when they switch rightie to leftie.”
Who does he want next? “I’m just looking for the biggest challenge. That’s all I want.”
Is there unfinished business with GGG? “No, for me, it’s over. But if the people want another fight, we’ll do it again, and I’ll beat him again.”
A third fight with Golovkin does not do much for me, but you can argue Canelo lost at least one if not both of those fights. So, that fight would still have some intrigue.
I would prefer to see Canelo try to unify all the titles at 160 and battle WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade, which would be a great fight. Andrade returns in June to battle Maciej Sulecki in Providence, Rhode Island.
In the end, it should be interesting to see what’s next for Alvarez.
Canelo Alvarez(WBA, WBC) and Danny Jacobs(IBF) both control all the major belts at 160, except for one. The WBO middleweight champion is Demetrius Andrade, and that is a fight that could come down the line at some point for the winner of Canelo-Jacobs, who battle on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Andrade and Jacobs are close friends, so for him personally, Andrade wants Jacobs to win on Saturday night. Regarding business, Alvarez is the cash cow of boxing. Therefore, a fight with Canelo is more lucrative for Andrade.
“It’s a 50-50 fight,” Andrade recently said about Canelo-Jacobs. “At the end of the day, I gotta look at it two ways, business, and like damn, I want to see my brother do good. At the end of the day, business is Canelo; my brother do good is Danny. Whenever, however, the best man show up wins. I’m just there to be like, next!”
Canelo is the favorite coming into this fight for many reasons, and one of those reasons could be what we have seen in the past. Alvarez seems to get the benefit of the doubt on the scorecards. Many bring up his two fights with Gennady Golovin, and even his loss to Floyd Mayweather, where Canelo was clearly dominated. However, one judge had the fight a draw. With all that being said, Andrade believes Jacobs has to do his best.
“Canelo is the face of boxing, and the middleweight division right now,” Andrade said. “He has the more popular people behind him, the judges of course. That’s what people are gonna say that’s what we’re talking about, the judges, right, and getting a fair decision. At the end of the day, you go in there, you do your best, and that’s all that matters. May the best man win. Danny gotta go in there and do what he gotta do and show how talented he is with all these things against him. You can’t let that play with your mind either.”
Jacobs can beat Canelo, but he has to be at his very best, and it has to be decisive. Anything close probably goes to Alvarez.
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