Canelo Alvarez's Next Fight: Delvin Rodriguez Ready, Shane Mosley and Gabriel Rosado in the Running

Mexican superstar and reigning WBC 154-pound titleholder Canelo Alvarez will return on May 5 on the Mayweather vs Cotto pay-per-view, possibly once again in a split site role as main eventer at another venue, possibly in Vegas, and Ryan Maquiñana reports that three men have emerged as potential opponents.

Shane Mosley

I've made my feelings on Alvarez vs Mosley very clear -- if you haven't read those by now, I'll just quickly sum it up with, "I've already seen Alvarez vs Kermit Cintron." I quite accurately predicted that Cintron would have nothing in the ring against Alvarez in November, and nothing is pretty much what we got.

If they do make this fight, expect Golden Boy to once again hard-sell you a washed-up fighter as some stern challenge to Alvarez, when they know for a fact exactly what they're doing and are just hoping to dupe viewers with another easy fight against a known name. I'm convinced Golden Boy will have people going, "Man, Shane could win this fight, if you think about it," but the promoter's role in selling a fight like this is the exact opposite, really, to keep you from thinking about it, because thinking about it reveals the illusion.

For those who think Alvarez gains much by beating Mosley, he won't -- there aren't a lot of boxing fans still seeing Mosley as a top fighter, and those who do will come out of this fight believing he's old and shot if they somehow don't feel that way already.

But this fight isn't nearly as close to reality as some might expect, probably, as Dan Rafael reported on Saturday that Mosley and his team were at the Chavez-Rubio fight in Texas reaching out to Top Rank, too.

The other two opponents are, in my view, much more interesting, but to varying degrees there, too.

Gabriel Rosado

Rosado (19-5, 11 KO) doesn't have the pretty record or the HBO main events of 2006 credentials, but he's actually earned his record, is starting to peak as a fighter, and at 26, is in his prime and hungry. This is not a fighter who came through his early days getting manicures and traveling by first class air to his next fight -- he wasn't some protected prospect for a major company. He was just a fighter in a Philly gym who had to fight.

Rosado, who recently defeated Jesus Soto Karass, might well get himself knocked out against Canelo, and yes I'd consider him a serious underdog. But he'd get knocked out because he wouldn't shy away from contact, which I cannot say I'm confident about when it comes to Shane Mosley anymore. I'd rather see the 26-year-old guy come to fight than the 40-year-old guy come to craftily avoid being hit, unable to pull his own trigger, surviving for the payday.

Still, while I really like Rosado as a fighter and respect him as a quality pro at this point, I'd really heavily favor Alvarez, who I believe would simply be too physically strong and too good for him. But I'd rather find out about that than watch the predictable Mosley mess.

Delvin Rodriguez

This is my favorite. If I had my druthers, this would be the fight for Canelo. Rodriguez (26-5-3, 14 KO) is coming off of a nice 2011, where he won several Fight of the Year awards (including ours and the BWAA's) for his July war with Pawel Wolak, then ended the year by defeating Wolak in a rematch on the Cotto vs Margarito undercard.

Rodriguez, 31, is a skilled, tough fighter who would legitimately be a good step up in competition for Canelo. Not just on paper, and not just because people have heard his name ("Hey! I've heard of that guy! This fight is good!" clapclapclapyaay) before, but because he's a good fighter and actually a real, live contender.

Rodriguez tells Jake Donovan he's heard the rumors, and that he's ready to go on May 5, as he's looking to land a title shot in 2012. Title fights would come on no bigger stage for him than a fight with Alvarez.

If Golden Boy is seriously looking to test Alvarez out against a real opponent, someone who isn't an all-but-predetermined win, they'll try to make the fight with Rodriguez.