Saul Canelo Alvarez elicited waves of disappointment from across the world when he announced recently that he wouldn’t enter the ring until next year. Anyone that was looking forward to analyzing the crazy sportsbetting boxing odds of Alvarez’s next fight must wait until 2017 to get their fix.
Alvarez made the announcement on his social media page, emphasizing the fact that he wouldn’t fight for the rest of this year. Probably in anticipation of the outrage, Alvarez added that he would be hungrier than ever for big fights when he made his return in 2017, though he didn’t elaborate on the nature of these big fights.
Alvarez hasn’t done his reputation much good by choosing to undertake so many underwhelming fights, this including the bout against Amir Khan (May) and the Liam Smith Fight that happened last Saturday.
Most boxing fans agree that Liam Smith is the weakest world champion in the 154lb division, which is why his fight against Alvarez in Texas didn’t elicit much interest. Alvarez seems to have a plan in place designed to minimize his exposure.
If all goes according to plan, then Alvarez might have a maximum of three fights in 2017, this including a match in January, a bout in May (on Cinco de Mayo) and a possible fight on the Mexican Independence Day Weekend (September).
People who are outraged by the cancellation of Alvarez’s planned fight in Madison Square Garden in December shouldn’t be too quick to blame Alvarez. There are reports circulating saying that Alvarez’ fight against Liam Smith left him with a fractured right thumb, this explaining why the non-pay-per-view fight in December was scrapped.
There are a lot of possible matchups for Alvarez to pursue if no other problems curtail his ability to compete in 2017. Everyone would love an Alvarez-Golovkin fight in September, though the chances of such a bout are quite low at the moment.
Alvarez is more likely to fight Takashi Miura and Orlando Salido, two highly popular super-featherweights; HBO might also choose to invest in the unbeaten new super-flyweight champion Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez.
That is one fight that would draw crowds. According to Alvarez’s people, they are working hard to make sure that they deliver only the best possible matchups for fans of the sport. There is more than enough talent in the boxing arena to make a match against Alvarez interesting.
The people in charge need only show a willingness to invest in the right opponents for Alvarez, who claims that he is ready to take on any opponent that comes his way; there are a lot of voices online raising concerns about the decreasing ratings.
However, it could be argued that some of those drops have more to do with the quality of the fights taking place than the interest of sports fans. Boxing fans want to invest in fights that are worth their hard-earned money.
It will fall on the shoulders of Canelo to come back in 2017 with an ostensible interest in big fights. Alvarez needs to stop talking. The sooner he announces his next, hopefully, major opponent, the sooner people can get back on the Alvarez bandwagon.
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