Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez is arguably boxing?s biggest attraction, but fight fans haven?t been too kind to the Mexican superstar on social media.
Alvarez?s star power took a hit after he passed on the mega middleweight bout with Gennady ?GGG? Golovkin to fight the unknown WBO junior middleweight titlist Liam Smith at AT&T Stadium on Sept. 17.
Anytime Alvarez tweets his comment section gets bombarded with ?You?re scared of GGG? replies and a few ?We love you, Canelo? responses sprinkled in.
Despite the backlash, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya is confident Canelo?s upcoming fight will be a hit.
De La Hoya referenced Manny Pacquiao?s two 2010 fights at AT&T Stadium, the giant home of the Dallas Cowboys, during a conference call this week.
?Cowboys Stadium is a stadium created for larger-than-life fighters, just like Canelo,? De La Hoya said. ?And the two other fights that have been fought there were headlined by legendary Manny Pacquiao.
?We?re excited to announce that ticket sales are going extremely, extremely well. It?s outpacing Manny Pacquiao?s last two fights, which we?re extremely excited about knowing that we will have a full house at the Cowboys Stadium.?
Alvarez has lost some luster due to the Golovkin fiasco, but De La Hoya is banking on Texas to support the Mexican fighter next month against an opponent who?s making his U.S. debut.
Beating Pacquiao?s attendance numbers at the Cowboys? home won?t be easy. The Filipino fighter generated 50,000 fans against Joshua Clottey and 40,000 versus Antonio Margarito.
Alvarez has put up similar numbers in Texas before. Last year, 31,000 fans attended Alvarez?s knockout win against James Kirkland at Minute Maid Park in Houston. In 2013, 40,000 packed the Alamo Dome in San Antonio for Alvarez?s victory versus Austin Trout.
De La Hoya said he doesn?t know how AT&T Stadium, which seats 80,000, will be scaled for fight night.
?I don?t know the exact number,? De La Hoya said. ?I do know that the building can be scaled for as many as over 80,000 people. So, like I said, ticket sales are going incredibly well. We?re outpacing the last two Manny Pacquiao fights that were held at AT&T Stadium. So Jerry Jones is extremely happy. The fans are happy. We?re happy.?
Alvarez said he has no problem with the negative feedback he?s received for not fighting Golovkin.
?There?s always going to be critics,? Alvarez said. ?They?re always there, and it?s something that?s part of it. It?s part of the business. Obviously, there?s good critics sometimes and there?s bad critics. But the most important thing is it doesn?t faze me.?
Golovkin fires back
Gennady Golovkin has also received his fair share of criticism, but mainly from possible opponents.
Lining up 160-pounders to face the middleweight terror hasn?t been easy for his promoter Tom Loeffler, which could explain Golovkin?s next fight against Kell Brook on Sept. 10 in London.
Brook, the IBF welterweight champion, moved up two weight classes to face the unified middleweight champion Golovkin.
Boxers such Chris Eubank Jr. and Carl Froch have scoffed Golovkin for facing a smaller opponent.
?Just too much talking about fighting me, Canelo, Eubank, (Billy Joe) Saunders, Froch, they are acting like clowns with no respect for the sport,? Golovkin responded during his media workout this week. ?I?m here now, sign the contract and fight me, any of them, doesn?t matter which one.?
On TV
Former two-division champion Robert Guerrero faces David Peralta in a 10-round welterweight match Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The card will be shown on tape delay at 9 p.m. on Spike.
The super middleweight bout between Alfredo Angulo and Freddy Hernandez is the co-main event.
Kovalev-Ward watch
A second week has gone by since Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward put their light heavyweight showdown on hold. The fight was scheduled for Nov. 19 at T-Mobile Arena, but the bout was put on the shelf because of last-minute negotiations.
A Main Events representative told the Review-Journal there was nothing to report this week. Looks like this stalemate will drag on for at least another week.
