Saul "Canelo" Alvarez announced on Tuesday that he will leave Showtime and return to HBO for his next fights, confirming earlier reports that that Golden Boy Promotions and HBO have already mended fences.
Alvarez said in a news conference on Tuesday that he is excited to be back with HBO, who last carried a fight involving him in May 2012 when he won against Shane Mosley.
"For all of my career, I have wanted to fight on HBO for one main reason -- I believe it will allow more of my fans to see me in action," Alvarez said via ESPN. "Today marks a huge milestone for me, and I look forward to a long and successful partnership with HBO. I'm super excited. I am extremely happy to be back here on HBO."
Alvarez was reportedly frustrated with Showtime because of the network's reluctance to schedule a fight on major Mexican Holidays, such as the Cinco De Mayo weekend in May and the Mexican Independence Day weekend in September.
Both fight dates were previously taken by Floyd Mayweather, a Showtime fighter, and it is reportedly the main reason why Canelo opted to return to HBO.
"There were many factors involved in making the decision but recouping the dates was important," Alvarez said. "I always wanted to fight on Cinco de Mayo and in September because being Mexican those are always the dates that are celebrated and I am excited to fulfill my dreams of continuing that Mexican tradition."
Showtime Sports executive vice president Stephen Espinoza expressed disappointment over Alvarez's decision to move to HBO, saying that Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions had a verbal agreement about Canelo's future with the network.
Espinoza told BoxingScene that De La Hoya presented a multi-fight, multi-year proposal to them last week, but the Hall of Fame boxer denied that they made a verbal commitment to stay with Showtime.
"No verbal agreement," De La Hoya reiterated. "I'm obviously doing what Canelo is asking of me. Canelo has expressed many months ago that he would love to explore the possibility of fighting on HBO. As his promoter, I have to obviously do whatever is possible to grant his wishes."
According to reports, HBO will carry a fight between Canelo and Joshua Clottey on December before staging an HBO Pay-Per-View fight involving Canelo and reigning World Boxing Council middleweight champion Miguel Cotto.
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