Canelo Alvarez to return in May, then September following win over Cotto

According to promoter Oscar De La Hoya (in a tweet from Lance Pugmire of the LA Times), Canelo Alvarez will be taking over the May/September schedule from Floyd Mayweather in 2016, which means the new middleweight champion will be back in the ring next on May 7, the first Saturday of the month, and one of boxing's two traditional big fight weekends.

His second fight, then, would likely come on September 17, the other of the two big Saturdays next year, dates that Floyd Mayweather controlled from 2013-15. The dates are both near Mexican holidays -- Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence -- but have not featured a Mexican or Mexican-American fighter in the A-side role since Mayweather beat Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.

Alvarez, 25, wanted to take the dates this year, but it just wasn't really feasible with Mayweather still active, especially considering Floyd lined up the May fight with Manny Pacquiao this year, something nobody was going to even contemplate running against. Canelo has wanted to "take back" those dates as the new Mexican superstar in boxing, and his win over Miguel Cotto tonight makes that a reality for him. He's calling the shots with Mayweather retired now, and Manny Pacquiao set to return on April 9 for what may be his final fight before he dedicates himself to politics in the Philippines.

Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KO) could face Gennady Golovkin on either of those dates, or on neither of them. That remains to be seen, but Alvarez did say he's willing to fight Golovkin next, and he's not been one to avoid tough fights; on the contrary, he's consistently taken fights that he perhaps did not need to, because they were perceived as the best challenges at the time.

Do you think we'll see Canelo-Golovkin in May, or even in September? Could we see something of an agreed-upon "victory lap" title defense for Canelo on the May 7 date before a fight with Golovkin? Or do you expect Golden Boy to steer Alvarez clear of GGG entirely?