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Former light middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has pulled out of a December 6 bout against Joshua Clottey.
Out for six weeks
According to a statement issued by Golden Boy Promotions on Monday night, Saul Alvarez will be sidelined for about six weeks due to a persistent left ankle injury. Because of that, the Mexican superstar will be forced to pull out of his proposed December 6 bout against former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey.
Although not formal announcement was ever made for that bout, it was supposed to be Canelo’s first fight after making the move to HBO last month. Instead, HBO and Golden boy “are reviewing their options for the December 6 date.”
Persistent ankle injury
Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya said that the left ankle has been bothering Canelo since early this year. De La Hoya added that Canelo first felt the injury during his fight against Alfredo Angulo last March. It re appeared once again two weeks before his July 12 bout against Erislandy Lara and although he felt a lot of discomfort, Alvarez fought through the pain and went on to beat Lara by split decision.
But as Canelo started to train for his December fight a couple of weeks ago, he felt that the injury was aggravating. He tried to shrug it off once again but then last week, Alvarez said his left knee got so swollen after doing his usual six mile run that he had to stop training. After having it checked by the doctor, Alvarez was advised to rest and undergo physical therapy for six weeks in order to strengthen the ankle.
Counter move?
Although Alvarez has a legitimate injury, it is nothing serious as tests have revealed that nothing down there is torn or broken. It is seen by some fight experts as a counter move on the part of Canelo’s camp after Miguel Cotto decided to take the rest of the year off.
The December fight was seen a stay-busy fight for Canelo who is being lined up for a mega buck Cinco de Mayo weekend showdown against Cotto on May 2, 2015. But since Cotto is taking the rest of the year off, it would also be ideal if Canelo should do the same and not risk any major injury or much worse, a loss that would put the Cinco de Mayo mega fight in peril.
