Canelo Alvarez has been anointed as the next big draw in boxing with Floyd Mayweather Jr. nearing retirement and Manny Pacquiao's star dimmed by a loss to Mayweather. Alvarez handled that pressure well Saturday night, obliterating James Kirkland with a third-round TKO victory that was everything the "Fight of the Century" on May 2 wasn't.
When Mayweather fought Pacquiao fans plunked down $100 to see a boxing clinic. Tactically, Mayweather's ability to avoid damage and suppress Pacquiao's punch output was impressive, but fans were mostly dissatisfied with the lack of action. When Alvarez fought Kirkland, there were fireworks from the opening seconds that never stopped exploding.
Both men crushed each other with hard shots, but Alvarez was far too skilled and accurate, knocking down the brawler Kirkland three times en route to the win. The TKO is the easy frontrunner for knockout of the year, and proved Canelo's star power beyond a reasonable doubt. After the fight, Alvarez said he wants WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto next. Cotto is scheduled to fight June 6 at the Barclays Center against Daniel Geale in his first title defense at 160 pounds.
Cotto is favored to beat Geale, but has the problem of Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, the WBA and IBO middleweight champion to deal with before anything can be agreed to with Alvarez. Golovkin is the mandatory challenger for Cotto's title, and must agree to a "step-aside" deal if Cotto wants to defend his crown vs. Alvarez, which would add considerable stakes since it's the lineal middleweight title.
Golovkin's promoter Tom Loeffler said he's already been approached by Cotto's Roc Nation handlers, and seems open to allowing the Cotto-Alavarez fight if certain conditions are met.
Golovkin's promoter talks "step-aside" deal
"The first thing would have to be that whoever wins the fight would have to guarantee to fight him [Golovkin], which so far they haven't. The second thing, there would have to be significant financial compensation to Gennady, because he put himself in the position to fight [Marco Antonio] Rubio and without that it wouldn't make any sense," Loeffler said.
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