As rumors swirl about a possible Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight on May 2, 2015, Canelo Alvarez has voiced his opinion on the matter of Cinco De Mayo weekend remaining "Cinco de Mayweather."
Alvarez jumped ship from Showtime back to HBO in large part so that he no longer played second fiddle to Mayweather. Part of that was reclaiming Cinco de Mayo weekend back for Mexican fighters. To do that, he has instructed Golden Boy Promotions to work out a deal for him to face Puerto Rican superstar Miguel Cotto on May 2.
With Mayweather making noise about finally facing Pacquiao on that date, fans shouldn't expect Alvarez to budge. "Everybody knows that Oscar is getting me May 2 and September, Alvarez said.
"Those are the Mexican holidays, and they belong to the Mexican fighters. Everybody knows those are the Mexican holidays and the traditional dates for the Mexican fighters."
De La Hoya himself recently said that if Mayweather and Pacquiao agreed to a May 2 fight that he would try to convince Alvarez to move off the date. He hedged that by saying he wasn't sure Alvarez could be swayed.
"Obviously if Mayweather-Pacquiao happens it would be my obligation to go and talk to Canelo and maybe, kind of convince him to move out of that date," De La Hoya said Saturday. "But this kid is determined, and he wants to fight Cinco De Mayo."
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum was more forceful in rebuking the idea of Mayweather and Pacquiao infringing on the date that Canelo covets, noting that neither Mayweather nor Pacquiao are Mexican.
"The only Mexican in the group is Canelo Alvarez, who is a big attraction among the Mexican people. And to poach on that date, which is a Mexican holiday, by non-Mexicans, shows a terrible disrespect for the Mexican people, both those living in Mexico and those living in the United States. And anybody who does the poaching ought to be ashamed of themselves. That goes for hotels and that goes for fighters and that goes for any of us," Arum said.
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