If there are ?serious? talks going on between Team Canelo Alvarez and Team Demetrius Andrade?as was reported after Canelo negotiations with IBF mandatory opponent Sergiy Derevyanchenko were guillotined? ?Boo Boo? Andrade is the last to know.
The current WBO middleweight champ recently told Sports Illustrated?s Chris Mannix on Monday that he hadn?t heard anything about any talks with the Mexican star. Even Andrade promoter Eddie Hearn, as recently as last Friday, was talking IF more than IS when it comes to his fighter slipping into the October 19 or 26 fight date Alvarez had in mind for his return to the ring.
But who else could get the nod for the B-side slot at this point?
Canelo, out of sheer spite, has nixed the idea of fighting Gennady Golovkin a third time and the rumor mill has been churning about a reported inside battle with promoter Golden Boy over them promising that third Golovkin bout in order to close Canelo?s $365 million deal with streaming service DAZN.
A subsequent effort to put together a bout with light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev, the only opponent besides Golovkin greenlit by DAZN, ultimately fell apart over money and Golden Boy?s reluctance in matching the eight-figure payout Canelo?s last opponent, Daniel Jacobs, got.
Canelo and Golden Boy then moved on to Derevyanchenko, convincing DAZN to approve the fight by reportedly offering to give back $5 million of Canelo?s contracted $35 million-per-fight haul. But Derevyanchenko turned away the $5.5 million proposed to him, holding out for $7 million until the IBF deadline passed and the sanctioning body stripped Canelo of the belt he won in May by beating Daniel Jacobs (who had beaten Derevyanchenko for the vacant belt seven months earlier).
The other logical middleweight foe for Canelo would be former interim WBC titlist Jermall Charlo, who became full 160 lb. champ when Alvarez was elevated to ?Franchise Champ.? But Canelo-Charlo won?t happen because Charlo fights under the Premier Boxing Champions banner, exclusive to Showtime and Fox while Canelo is exclusive to DAZN.
A bout with Ryota Murata, who just re-captured his WBA ?regular? middleweight title would make no sense whatsoever and generate zero money for DAZN.
So, there?s really nobody else but Andrade for Canelo?but that could very well make the fight even harder to put together. Why would the undefeated Providence, Rhode Island native take any less than the reported $15 million Jacobs got for fighting Alvarez?
Andrade brings with him the WBO belt and is bathed in the reality that he?s the only top tier opponent Canelo CAN fight on the dates targeted. He?s been eager to call for this big opportunity, but probably even more eager for the payout from a DAZN that has been more than willing to overpay for everything and everybody.
For Canelo, Andrade is probably the least pleasing competitive option of those explored. Stylistically, he?s a bit like if Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout?two fighters who gave Alvarez a tough time?had a baby. He?s a tall, quick, smart, and cautious southpaw who will probably make Canelo look bad whether he wins or loses.
There?s nobody else, though, and even a Canelo-henpecked DAZN would balk at another Rocky Fielding-type soft touch for their marquee star, who will be just three fights into his eleven-fight deal.
Of course, there?s always David Lemieux?boxing?s answer to a soft touch that looks like a legitimate challenge. Lemieux is a good-looking white boy with name value who can punch and, at least in theory, has a chance of landing something big to score an upset. Whether the French-Canadian is in shape or bloated and comfortable from buckets of poutine and groupie BJs on demand, Golden Boy should be able to get him to Vegas for a beating at a comparatively affordable price.
But, realistically, who?s going to surrender their credit card info for a basic cable-level Canelo-Lemieux fight? When the name ?Lemieux? starts to pop up in conveniently-leaked boxing website rumors connected to a Canelo fight, you know someone at Golden Boy and/or DAZN is looking to embrace the dark void and trying to see if they can pull a fast one on the buying public.
And all of this takes us back to ?Boo Boo.?
There seems to be no other option. Send that Brinks truck to Providence and empty it out on Andrade?s front porch. If he really hasn?t gotten the Canelo call by now, it should be coming shortly.
