Is Canelo Alvarez a free agent? Golden Boy says no, despite Arum's claim

When speaking about his new working relationship with Miguel Cotto, Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com that Canelo Alvarez is a free agent, and that prompted a quick reply from Golden Boy Promotions, where Richard Schaefer said that Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO) is under a long-term contract with "multiple fights" remaining on the deal.

Golden Boy also released a statement attributed to Alvarez, the 23-year-old superstar fighter who was involved in the biggest-money fight in boxing history just a few weeks ago in a loss to Floyd Mayweather.

"I am very happy with Golden Boy Promotions," said Canelo in the statement. "I'm scheduled to travel next week to Los Angeles to meet with Richard Schaefer and Eric Gomez for a meeting that we hold after each fight.

"I have a contract with Golden Boy Promotions with which I am very happy. Any event or matter that points to the contrary is false."

If Alvarez were indeed a free agent, that would be massive news. But right now, given that Golden Boy has delivered big fights for him and made him a centerpiece attraction of their company, even if his contract were up -- and it does not appear to be -- then it doesn't seem like he'd be leaving the GBP fold anyway. He wanted Trout, they made that fight. He wanted Mayweather, they made that fight. What could Alvarez be unhappy about?