The world of boxing has been a two-headed beast for most of the past decade. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao grabbed the headlines as the biggest stars in the sport and the only consistent pay-per-view performers since Oscar De La Hoya retired. But with Mayweather retired and Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, claiming the Filipino brawler he promotes is headed for retirement after one more fight, there is a void at the top of the sport. De La Hoya thinks Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, 25, is the fighter who will ascend to the top.
“He is the next pay-per-view star in the sport. We have no doubt about that. If you look at the landscape of boxing, there is no one that can come close,” says De La Hoya who acts as Canelo’s promoter through his company Golden Boy Promotions. “All he has to do is beat Cotto impressively. If he wins impressively, then we do have the next superstar on our hands.”
It would benefit De La Hoya greatly if Alvarez becomes boxing’s next PPV star. Alvarez signed a contract extension with Golden Boy in September that covers his next 15 fights. De La Hoya says Canelo is much more patient since his 2013 loss to Mayweather—the the only loss of his career—and ready to face an experienced champion like Cotto, who is 35 and nearing the end of his career.
A strong win over a big name boxer is what every up-and-coming fighter needs to move up to superstar status. Both Mayweather and Pacquiao failed to draw more than 400,000 PPV buys before matching up with and defeating De La Hoya. Pacquiao and Mayweather were both the “B” side in their fights against De La Hoya. The victories over De La Hoya made Mayweather and Pacquiao superstars and launched record PPV careers that currently stand at 19.1 million buys (Mayweather) and 18 million (Pacquiao).
Canelo is the B side in Saturday’s fight. Cotto is guaranteed $15 million, while Canelo's guarantee is $5 million. Both fighters have a chance to reap millions more if the fight is a hit on PPV and Canelo will profit from the broadcast on Mexican TV. Cotto’s previous record payday was his 2009 fight against Pacquiao where he banked $12 milion. Canelo earned his career-high of $12 million for his bout against Mayweather.
Canelo has proven that he can draw a crowd. More than 31,000 fans filled Minute Maid Stadium in May to see him knock out James Kirkland. The fight averaged 2.1 million viewers on HBO. He has only headlined two PPV cards and they delivered 350,000 and 315,000 buyers respectively, similar to the numbers Mayweather and Pacquiao put up early in their careers. But neither of those opponents, Alfredo Angulo and Erislandy Lara, had nearly the pedigree of Cotto.
“Canelo has the ‘It’ factor. It is not looks alone, as we’ve had other good-looking fighters that don’t have a connection with fans,” says De La Hoya. ”Most importantly, he can fight and he is entertaining to watch. He was fighter that right from the start at Golden Boy we thought he was the next big thing in boxing.”
