Golden Bummer: Josesito Lopez vs. Saul Alvarez is official, no CBS

With heated promotional rivals, Top Rank and Golden Boy, planning to air live shows featuring their young, Mexican marquee fighters on Mexican Independence Day, it looks as though Top Rank has scored the September 15th TKO.

Originally posted as a rumor by Boxingscene and ESPN, today it was officially announced on the Golden Boy-owned, Ring Magazine website that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KOs) will be facing Josesito Lopez (30-4, 18 KOs) at the MGM Grand on Showtime to compete with the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Sergio Martinez pay-per-view card within walking distance at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center.

“We have secured in Lopez the one fighter I think who deserves more than anyone else to fight Canelo,” Golden Boy Promotions CEO, Richard Schaefer told RingTV. “There were a lot names being discussed and a lot of names being speculated in the media. There were several 154-pounders and 154-pound world champions such as Austin Trout and K9 Bundrage and I’m sure that Canelo is going to eventually get to them. But there is really only one man who deserves to get this fight, and that is Josesito Lopez.”

The 27-year-old Lopez, from Riverside, California, is riding a wave of warm, fuzzy fan support after his upset stoppage of Victor Ortiz last month in a thrilling battle at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. But the positive vibe generated by his underdog story isn’t enough to mask the disappointment of a natural junior welterweight being brought up two full weight classes to land the coveted title shot at WBC junior middleweight champ, Alvarez.

Claiming that “this fight will make history,” Oscar De la Hoya teased Saul Alvarez’s September 15 opponent for the last couple of weeks and left these “tweets” to whet the public’s appetite for something special:

History is near!

— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) July 10, 2012

HISTORY…..be part of it!

— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) July 10, 2012

However, what played out was neither historic nor worth the wait. It’s worth noting that De la Hoya’s beloved Twitter account has been silent since the story leaked.

Part of the mass disappointment falls in the fact that this was to be Alvarez’s first showcase against a truly elite opponent, a sad state of affairs considering that the 21-year-old red-headed Mexican champ is already sixteen months and four defenses into a world title reign.

Josesito Lopez is the fourth fighter pegged for the Canelo opponent slot. Original opponent, Paul Williams would fall out after his tragic motorcycle accident. Then, James Kirkland pulled out when a refusal to up his guaranteed purse made his shoulder hurt. And, finally, Victor Ortiz was pushed out of the spot by Lopez.

According to Schaefer, Alvarez-Lopez will be part of a quadruple header with WBC featherweight titlist, Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Daniel Ponce de Leon signed for the card and heavyweights Seth Mitchell-Johnathon Banks likely occupying a third spot.

“Showtime has made the commitment to promote this card as if it is a pay per view event. Fans won’t have to dig into their pockets. It’s not a pay per view, it’s a free-per-view,” said Schaefer. “CBS is committed to helping and heavily promoting this event. We’re talking about the reality, All Access series that will be shown on Showtime and will get runs on CBS as well. CBS will be using its extensive sports schedule to promote this amazing card.”

Somehow, fans are meant to take solace in the fact that CBS may air reruns of a documentary aimed at hyping a card on premium cable. Meanwhile, a new low has been reached in niche marketing with two major boxing shows scheduled for the same time, both targeted to the Mexican and Mexican-American fight fan, and neither accessible to the casual fan sans financial investment on their part.

The hope from Golden Boy may be that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Sergio Martinez will eventually fall apart before the September 15 date- A possibility that, despite yesterday’s Chavez-Martinez press conference in Los Angeles, isn’t as remote as one would imagine, especially considering that Bob Arum and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.  are at work and that a legitimate non-Top Rank fighter is one-half of the main event.

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