In an update to a previous story, both Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and former jr. welterweight champion Marcos Maidana are denying reports about a potential showdown with WBC jr. middleweight Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. That being said, both were also tight-lipped about the news that Maidana had indeed pulled out of his scheduled July 21 bout with Keith Thurman. Furthermore, Schaefer essentially ruled out Cornelius Bundrage, Cory Spinks, Erislandy Lara, and Freddy Hernandez for the September 15th assignment, telling Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com that Canelo's opponent, which has already been selected, has nothing to do with "the outcome of this weekend's fights".
With the WBC already rejecting WBA champion Austin Trout as a suitable challenger for Canelo's title, there aren't too many options out there to choose from. While many of the previously named jr. middleweights have expressed their desire to face Canelo in various interviews and press releases, the one man who has remained quiet throughout the selection process might be the one who is actually getting the coveted assignment. Don't be surprised if someone from Golden Boy Promotions soon announces, "The Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivaly will resume on September 15th when Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez defends his title against former champion Carlos Quintana!"
Quintana is coming off of an impressive 6th round TKO victory over Deandre Latimore back in May on the undercard of Mayweather vs. Cotto. During the post-fight press conference, when Richard Schaefer revealed that Canelo would be headlining a pay-per-view on September 15th, he mentioned that Quintana expressed an interest in landing the assignment. Although the former welterweight champion wasn't Golden Boy's first choice, he just might be their best choice at this point. Having faced Miguel Cotto as well as Paul Williams, Golden Boy's original choice, Quintana brings some decent credibility as an opponent, especially considering that he actually defeated Paul Williams, albeit at welterweight. While Quintana may not be a big enough name to push forward with the pay-per-view event, he's a good enough name to stand opposite Canelo come September 15th.
Speaking of the pay-per-view event, don't be surprised if Golden Boy Promotions actually does move forward with it. Assuming Maidana has indeed pulled out of his July 21 bout, which was going to be televised on HBO, there's a strong possibility that he could end up instead on Showtime, facing fellow hard-hitting Argentinian Lucas Matthysse as the co-main event to Alvarez vs. Quintana. Although the headliner may not be strong enough to run as a pay-per-view, the addition of Maidana vs. Matthysse makes the appropriately titled "Knockout Kings" event that much more appealing. Keep in mind that Maidana and Matthysse have a combined 57 knockouts in 68 fights. Matthysse is coming off of an impressive 5th round stoppage of Humberto Soto, who he dropped for the first time in his career. It was a performance that left many fans already buzzing about a potential showdown with Maidana. Furthermore, with September 15th event going head-to-head with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio Martinez, another Argentinian, I'm quite sure Richard Schaefer would love nothing more than to stage an all-Argentinian brawl between the two knockout artists just to stick it to Bob Arum.
Whether or not either of those fights gets finalized remains to be seen, however, if they both of them do, Golden Boy just might be able to get the last laugh after all, giving Top Rank a serious headache come September 15th.
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