Canelo Alvarez Not Worried About Chavez Rumors, Targeting Miguel Cotto or Shane Mosley

Despite the rumors of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr fighting in what would honestly be a mega-fight for Mexican boxing in early 2012, Alvarez's manager tells Miguel Rivera at BoxingScene.com that any such fight is just speculation right now, and that Canelo is looking at other fighters for his next bout:

"These are pure rumors and speculation. ... On the the second week of October, we plan to meet with Oscar de la Hoya. Chavez is not in our plans at the moment. For the coming year we can make that fight, but we also have other opponents in mind, like a possible fight with Miguel Cotto in May, or someone like Shane Mosley."

The rumors and speculation have been sparked by both Top Rank and Golden Boy. Yesterday, Bob Arum said that he'd be willing to make the fight at a 158-pound catchweight in March, and Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com that he called Arum on Thursday to set up a meeting to discuss potential fights, including that one.

Alvarez (38-0-1, 28 KO) is coming off of a sixth round TKO of Alfonso Gomez on Saturday night. The bout drew a sizable, enthusiastic crowd to the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where there were a series of prospect showcases beforehand for the live audience, plus the Mayweather vs Ortiz pay-per-view on the arena's big screens. Alvarez vs Gomez was also show on the pay-per-view and to the audience in Las Vegas.

Alvarez vs Chavez almost has to happen someday, but I'd be surprised if it was someday soon. And raise your hand if you were one of the many who had the idea of Alvarez vs Shane Mosley cross your mind earlier this year. As I half-joked in another thread, that's the only type of fight left for Mosley, who turned 40 on September 7 and has been awful in his last three fights. Sugar Shane still has just a bit of rub left to give, and he's still never been knocked out. He may have left Golden Boy to secure the Manny Pacquiao fight earlier this year, but I'm sure they'd be happy to bring him back on board if they feel he's no threat to Alvarez, but could help churn some money.

As for Miguel Cotto, you could only expect that fight to happen if Cotto doesn't look very good in December. Alvarez is bigger and wider than Cotto, who is a tiny junior middleweight, but if Cotto's only goal left is to make top money, Alvarez could perhaps be an option. It's just that I doubt Golden Boy puts Alvarez in with a Cotto who still looks alive in the ring -- they've been very careful with Canelo thus far, and he's still only 21. In some ways, he's protected, if you're willing to look at his super bogus WBC belt as a "championship." But in many ways he fights very acceptable competition for his age. How many other 21-year-old fighters are facing Alfonso Gomez, Ryan Rhodes, and Matthew Hatton? How many are even facing guys like washed-up Carlos Baldomir? Not many.

But do I want or need to see Alvarez vs Mosley? No. I don't want or need to see any more Shane Mosley fights, but he's recently been back in the gym, and worked out and sparred with young Top Rank fighters Mercito Gesta and Jose Benavidez Jr recently at Freddie Roach's Wild Card in Hollywood. He's almost certainly going to fight again, and I'm sure he'd be highly interested in fighting Canelo, who is one of the hottest names in boxing right now.