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Canelo Alvarez Heading Back To HBO After Signing New Multi-Fight Agreement

Golden Boy Promotions yesterday announced boxer Canelo Alvarez is "returning to HBO after a five-fight stint" on Showtime that included his participation in the "highest-grossing pay-per-view fight in history" last September against Floyd Mayweather, according to Lance Pugmire of the L.A. TIMES. Sources said that the HBO deal "will begin in December" with Alvarez fighting in either Houston or San Antonio. He will likely face Joshua Clottey, though James Kirkland is "still in outside contention." Showtime Sports Exec VP Stephen Espinoza said that he "received a multifight, multiyear package" three weeks ago to televise Alvarez, which the network accepted. But he added the announcement "didn't come as any surprise to me," as Golden Boy co-Founder & President Oscar De La Hoya wanted to have Alvarez fight Miguel Cotto "in May with HBO fighters on the undercard." Espinoza: "The deceitful manner Oscar went about it ... (as if) there's no repercussions to this promise that was reneged on with a company you do business with." Espinoza noted he told De La Hoya he "wouldn't pay a $4-million license fee for Alvarez to fight Clottey." He instead wanted Kirkland "to be the foe, but said he didn't believe his stance was a deal killer" (L.A. TIMES, 9/24). Alvarez said that a key factor in leaving Showtime for HBO "was the opportunity to fight on pay-per-view on the big Mexican holiday weekends in May and September, which he has been unable to do." Mayweather is in the middle of a six-fight deal with Showtime and has "made those his regular dates." De La Hoya said that he will "do everything he can to assure that Alvarez fights on both weekends in 2015, even though it is bound to cause a conflict with Mayweather." HBO Sports President Ken Hershman said that while Alvarez will fight on PPV, the deal contains "flexibility that will also allow for him to appear on the regular network, which will help grow his visibility" (ESPN.com, 9/23).

REALITY CHECK: Mayweather during an appearance before the Nevada State Athletic Commission yesterday called Showtime's "All Access" show that aired in the run-up to his fight earlier this month against Marcos Maidana "heavily edited." In Las Vegas, Adam Hill reports the NSAC seemed "particularly interested in two fights shown on the show as taking place in Mayweather's gym" in which he says that they will "go on until someone quits." Mayweather also is among a group of people shown "exchanging cash as if they were betting on the outcomes." But Mayweather said that the fighters "took several extended breaks during the sparring sessions and the money was all for the benefit of the cameras." In another scene, several women are "shown rolling and smoking marijuana in Mayweather's house." He "claimed the drugs were not real" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 9/24).

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