Saul "Canelo" Alvarez played down reports that he is going to face Manny Pacquiao in his next fight, reiterating that the talks about a super fight are just plain rumors.
In an interview with BoxingScene, Alvarez insisted that there are no ongoing discussions between his camp and Pacquiao's camp about a possible showdown later this year.
According to Alvarez, the media just speculated that negotiations are ongoing after reports came out indicating that Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions and Bob Arum of Top Rank Promotions are talking about ending their long-standing cold war.
"These are nothing more than rumors, rumors because Oscar spoke to Arum to make peace but never discussed this fight. The media began to speculate but it was never discussed," Alvarez said.
Alvarez said that he is not yet thinking about his future fights because he is focused in his upcoming showdown with WBA super welterweight champion Erislandy Lara on July 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
But when asked about the possibility of facing Pacquiao in the future, Alvarez said that he will definitely go for it, saying that he should fight the best fighter available if he wants to be the best.
"Right now we have Lara but [if that fight comes along, Pacquiao is] clearly one of the best and you have to fight the best," Alvarez said.
De La Hoya, for his part, also sounded like he is not considering the Pacquiao vs Alvarez fight in the near future as reports indicated that the boxing great has other plans in mind.
In a recent interview with BoxingScene, De La Hoya said that he is planning to arrange a fight between the winner of the Alvarez-Lara fight and the upcoming Miguel Cotto vs Sergio Martinez fight on June 7 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.
"Cotto-Martinez is a very, very interesting fight and it will be a good fight. I wish both of them luck. Martinez is a great fighter and so is Cotto, and the winner is in line to face Lara or Canelo," De La Hoya said.
Earlier this year, Alvarez wanted to fight Cotto, and Golden Boy Promotions offered the Puerto Rican a $10-million guaranteed purse, but Cotto turned down the offer, citing lack of time to prepare for the fight.
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