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Oscar De La Hoya steers Canelo around Gennady Golovkin, to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Oscar De La Hoya knows boxing fans want to see Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin. He thinks they’ll buy Canelo vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. anyway. 

Canelo Alvarez invited Gennady Golovkin into the ring after his win against Miguel Cotto in 2015 to tell him he wasn’t avoiding a fight. Whether or not Canelo (48-1-1, 34 KOs) does actually want that fight, it’s obvious his promoter doesn’t. Oscar De La Hoya wants Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (50-2-1, 32 KOs), and thinks fans will too.

“Mexican boxing is the best, and when you have these two hot boxers who want to give the best to the fans, and we couldn’t pass it up,” De La Hoya said.

– Boxingscene

The fans can pass it up, and for reasons even beyond the fact Chavez Jr. isn’t GGG.

  • The fight is taking place three or four years too late
  • Chavez Jr. hasn’t done anything significant since the Ebola outbreak
  • There’s a catchweight. A weird 164.5 lb. catchweight.

That’s right – after guiding Canelo to the real middleweight championship, then telling Golovkin that he wasn’t actually a middleweight – Alvarez will fight Chavez at a catchweight four pounds above 160.

The actual fight should be entertaining, but it’s another lose-lose for Canelo much the same way his fight against Amir Khan was. Beating Chavez Jr. in 2017 won’t mean as much as it once would’ve. And it wouldn’t have meant a whole lot back then.

Chavez Jr. was a good fighter at his best, not great. His claim to fame, fair or not, is for being Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.’s son.

Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) lacks quality wins, but some of that isn’t his fault. He’s dominated everyone placed in front of him, having knocked out 23 straight opponents.

A fight with Alvarez is Golovkin’s toughest by far, on paper. Canelo has the boxing ability to trouble him like Kel Brook did, and the size and strength to stay in the fight like Brook couldn’t. De La Hoya apparently doesn’t see it that way.

Canelo could simply be allowing a Golovkin fight to marinate, but his image has taken a big hit with boxing fans in the process. He has De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions to thank for that.