It's been a slow month for the sport of boxing, but in less than two weeks, fans can look forward to the action heating up with a number of important fights that could decide the immediate future of the sport. Most notably are two Golden Boy Promotions headliners being staged on back to back Saturdays: the September 8th welterweight clash between champion Randall Bailey and challenger Devon Alexander, as well as the September 15th jr. middleweight showdown between champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and challenger Josesito Lopez. Obviously, Golden Boy is hoping their fighters, Alexander and Alvarez, will emerge victorious in their respective fights, and if so, that could very well set up a December pay-per-view event to determine a potential challenger for undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather.

The idea of Alexander moving up in weight to challenge Alvarez for the 154-pound title isn't so far-fetched considering that Alvarez's next opponent is Lopez, a career 140-pounder who got the assignment after himself moving up in weight and upsetting former welterweight champion Victor Ortiz, breaking his jaw in two places en route to a 9th round stoppage. Assuming all goes well for Alvarez in his title defense against Lopez, sources have already revealed that the plan is for him to return on December 8th to headline his first pay-per-view card. Alvarez has stated that he hopes to face either Floyd Mayweather or Miguel Cotto in that fight, however, it's highly unlikely that Mayweather will be fighting again this year, and Cotto appears to have his own plans in mind with a December 1st return to Madison Square Garden already in the works (I doubt that the popular Mexican Alvarez will be fighting any time soon in New York).

With Mayweather and Cotto likely unavailable, there's no doubt that Golden Boy will look for a name worthy of Canelo headlining his first pay-per-view event with. Thanks to a newly filed lawsuit against his managers and promotional company, you can rule out James Kirkland, who was originally tabbed to replace the injured Paul Williams when Golden Boy Promotions had hoped to stage Canelo's September 15th title defense as a pay-per-view event. Furthermore, fellow Mexican Alfredo Angulo, who was just recently released from a detention center, needs at least one fight to shake off the ring rust and erase the memories of his last bout, a 6th round TKO at the hands of Kirkland. Word is that Golden Boy Promotions is planning a November return to the ring in Texas for Angulo, meaning he too will be unavailable. That doesn't leave very many other possibilities, which could open up the door for Alexander, who will be showcasing his talents one week prior to Canelo facing Lopez. With an impressive showing against Randall Bailey, Alexander just might find himself to be the frontrunner to land the next assignment against Canelo.

With ambitions to face the elusive boxing skills of Floyd Mayweather, Canelo's team would be wise to test the waters against another slick fighter who they might consider to be less of a threat, so don't be surprised if you start reading about rumblings of Canelo vs. Alexander beginning some time in mid-September.