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Oscar De La Hoya admits he's not committed to making Canelo-Golovkin next

Oscar De La Hoya has been doing his best to dance around questions about Canelo facing Golovkin in his next outing, but his reservations about the fight ring loud and clear.

Alexis Cuarezma/Getty Images

Promoter Oscar De La Hoya says he's not entirely on board with the WBC's mandate that Canelo Alvarez face Gennady Golovkin next should both men win their next respective bouts. In fact, he's just stated that a rematch with Miguel Cotto may be another route for them to take. So that's just about as close as we're going to get to De La Hoya just flat out saying he doesn't want to risk his cash cow to the monster that is GGG in the near future.

According to the WBC order, the winner of Canelo-Khan has 15 days from their May 7th bout to negotiate a fight with mandatory challenger Gennady Golovkin or they will be stripped of the middleweight title. When asked about the possibility of going against the WBC's order, De La Hoya intimated that he's thinking about a Canelo-Golovkin fight, but that he's not committed to the WBC's timetable of facing Golovkin next. He further elaborated with this cryptic response about when they would be willing to make Canelo-Golovkin happen.

"Well look, obviously it's a fight - the question is not if but when," De La Hoya said earlier in the call. "And that's a fight that, as a promoter, it's a fight that I want to see and the world wants to see, but as a promoter I want it to be the biggest event in the history of this sport to attract fans and to bring back the fans that we lost when people witnessed Manny Pacquiao versus (Floyd) Mayweather (in May). So my question every single day is how can I accomplish that? This fight has to happen at the perfect moment, at the perfect time and I think we're getting close."

Canelo himself has also shied away from making any definitive statements about when he would like to face Golovkin, and declined to comment on potentially being stripped of his world title belt.

"Look, it's in my future plans," Alvarez said. "It's definitely in my future plans. I want to have that fight. I want to give it to the fans. I'm just not sure when. Right now, I'm focused on Amir Khan. That's my fight. I want to fight three times (this year). That's my goal. But anything can happen in this fight with Amir Khan. Sometimes you can have a plan and it changes."

This whole idea of Canelo and his handlers being especially prudent about facing Golovkin is hardly new news, but the closer we get to Canelo's next fight the harder it is for them to avoid questions about their upcoming plans. One thing  is for certain though -- neither Canelo nor his promoter are exactly chomping at the bit to take on Gennady Golovkin.

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