Oscar De La Hoya says he has made huge offer to Gennady Golovkin for fight with Canelo Alvarez
Canelo Alvarez and his promoter Oscar De La Hoya, riding the high of another knockout victory and a massive adoring crowd, worked to use that buzz to alter the tone of the rivalry with Gennady Golovkin.
Alvarez, 26, proclaimed himself the best fighter on the planet following his impressive ninth-round knockout of England’s Liam Smith on Saturday night in front of an AT&T Stadium-record boxing crowd of 51,420.
And Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 knockouts) and De La Hoya revealed in a post-fight news conference early Sunday that an offer of at least $10 million with an unspecified pay-per-view bonus has been presented to Golovkin’s team for a September 2017 bout.
Golovkin, in an interview with The Times last month, speculated that beyond Alvarez relinquishing his World Boxing Council middleweight belt to Golovkin in May instead of making a fight, he expected De La Hoya to make a low-ball offer of $2 million for a 2017 fight as a means to further avoid the Kazakhstan fighter from Los Angeles.
Unbeaten three-belt middleweight champion Golovkin is an ominous foe, with 23 straight knockouts and 17 consecutive title triumphs.
“If you say I’m going to offer you $2 million, well, guess what? I’m offering you a substantial amount. Eight figures,” De La Hoya said. “Take the offer, sign the contract and let’s make the fight. Stop calling people clowns.
“There’s obviously [pay-per-view] upside and if he’s not happy with what I’m offering, good luck to him fighting someone where he can make that money. He never will.”
Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler, acknowledged there hass been “preliminary” contact with De La Hoya, “but nothing of substance that was turned down.”
Said De La Hoya: “At least give me a call. Don’t leave me hanging.”
While Golovkin, 34, has dominated his division and is armed with extensive amateur experience, the strides Alvarez continues making were unmistakable Saturday.
He flashed an effective jab, good head movement and a willingness to take the best punches of Smith (23-1-1) on the ropes, answering with more powerful uppercuts and damaging body punches that decided the outcome.
“He’s a complete fighter now and he’s only getting better,” De La Hoya said of Alvarez.
Alvarez cut Smith twice near the right eye, first knocking him down with a seventh-round punch to the head that was thrown after Alvarez hurt that same right hand on a similar punch in the second.
His attention to body punching left Smith clearly pained before the Brit was dropped again in the eighth by a body blow.
Smith said he realized the difference between a very good fighter and an “elite” fighter, and the importance of maximizing preparation for a major bout.
He was finished on another shot to the ribs that caused Smith to cringe on his way down and writhe on the canvas as Alvarez jumped on a neutral-corner post in celebration.
“After I hurt my hand, I probably used my left more and went to the body more. But that was part of the game plan,” Alvarez said. “You have to prepare for everything in the ring and I was prepared.
“When I hit him down there, I knew I hurt him. Body shots hurt — they hurt a lot — and I knew I got him.”
Alvarez’s hurt right knuckle was to be examined Sunday. He said it wasn’t broken and his co-trainer Chepo Reynoso indicated they expect Alvarez to fight again Dec. 10 as scheduled.
“The way I feel, this is probably my last fight at 154 [pounds],” said Alvarez, with former middleweight champion David Lemieux, WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders or Curtis Stevens in contention for December.
De La Hoya would like to follow Alvarez’s year of opening Las Vegas’ new T-Mobile in May and the spectacle at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium with a bout at “the Mecca of boxing,” Madison Square Garden.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says he will make a strong bid to bring an Alvarez-Golovkin bout back to Texas.
Since October, Golovkin has sold out Madison Square Garden, the Forum and London’s O2 Arena.
De La Hoya said Saturday “shows you Canelo’s the star, the attraction, the ticket-seller, the fighter who delivers action-packed fights.
“There’s no other fighter on the planet who can fill up 51,000 seats.”
Alvarez added, “For the people saying I’m running from him, we made him a significant offer … three times more than he’s ever made. If he really wants to make the fight, take the offer.
“It is my era. It’s my time now. A lot of people aren’t going to agree with it, but I’m the best.”
Twitter: @LATimespugmire
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