CANELO ALVAREZ is a free agent after a dramatic falling out with Golden Boy promotions, his manager has claimed.
A statement released by Eddy Reynoso on Friday evening confirmed that the move will allow Canelo to “continue with his boxing career”.
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has left Golden Boy PromotionsCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The statement read: “In my role as a manager and coach of Canelo Alvarez, I allow myself to communicate to the boxing community and all our fans, that starting today, November 6, Canelo becomes a free agent.
“So we are ready to continue with his boxing career. All this time, we have been working very hard in the gym with a lot of responsibility and discipline, to be in great physical shape and ready to fight this year.
“And it will be [this year]! We will announce date, rival and place very soon, and we will return strong than ever to keep growing and showing that Mexican boxing is the best.”
The Mexican fell out with Golden Boy, founded by retired six-weight world champ Oscar De La Hoya, earlier in the year.
In September, he filed a lawsuit against the company and streaming service Dazn over an alleged non-payment of fight money.
The 30-year-old was three fights into an 11-fight contract with Golden Boy that was said to be worth a stunning £280million.
But Canelo claimed to be unhappy with the handling of the £27m fee he is owed per fight.
And he vowed to take the matter to court, specifically for breach of contract, intentional and negligent interference with a contract, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.
In a statement given to The Athletic, Alvarez said: “I’m the pound-for-pound No1 in the world.
“I’m not scared of any opponent in the ring, and I’m not going to let failures of my broadcaster or promoters keep me out of the ring.
“I filed the lawsuit so I can get back to boxing and give my fans the show they deserve.”
Dazn are said to have agreed a deal with Golden Boy worth £30.9m for each of the middleweight king’s fights, which in turn paid for Alavarez’s fee.
But his supposed inability to fight a major opponent led to the streaming service reportedly offering just half the agreed amount.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the fighter had suggested he was willing to discuss a fresh offer “in good faith”.
According to the lawsuit, that alternative never arrived and Alvarez’s team claim to have freed themselves from that contract.
The September filing alleged: “Despite repeated promises that an alternative offer was imminent, Dazn failed to make a proposal to either Golden Boy Promotions or Alvarez for several months.
“When Golden Boy Promotions and Alvarez proposed opponents, Dazn refused to confirm that it was prepared to broadcast Alvarez’s September 2020 bout or that it would pay the contract license fee.”
Fans have not seen the four-weight world champ in the ring since November 2019.
Having conquered the light middleweight, super middleweight and middleweight divisions, he beat Sergey Kovalev to win the WBO light heavyweight belt.
We have been working very hard in the gym with a lot of responsibility and discipline, to be in great shape and ready to fight this year.
Eddie Reynoso
Considered by many to be the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world, Alvarez appears to desire a fight in the remaining few weeks of 2020.
A super-middleweight clash with undefeated Brit Billy Joe Saunders in the summer did not come to fruition.
And welterweight star Errol Spence Jr told SunSport last month that a showdown with Canelo in front of 80,000 fans was very much on his mind.
Watch Canelo Alvarez spar with bulking heavyweight who throws huge hooks at Mexican star during training for return
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
