Sometimes your first instinct is the right choice. After weeks of speculation, the opponent for WBC jr. middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez has finally been revealed. According to several reports, Alvarez will be defending his title against Josesito Lopez when he returns to the ring on September 15. Lopez is coming off of a career-defining win, stopping former welterweight champion Victor Ortiz in 9 rounds after breaking his jaw. Ortiz was orginially supposed to get the coveted assignment to face Alvarez, but the upset-minded Lopez derailed those plans, forcing Golden Boy Promotions to come up with Plan B.
Prior to the upset, that Plan B had already been discussed according to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer. "We have contingency plans in place, which we have worked out with Showtime, because you never know what will happen," Schaefer explained when he first announced that Alvarez would be facing Ortiz in the main event of a card dubbed "Knockout Kings", which was originally supposed to be televised on pay-per-view. "Of course, Josesito Lopez would be part of those contingency plans." Evidently, despite the fact that numerous opponents were rumored to be in the running, it looks like Lopez was the frontrunner all along.
The bout will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and will reportedly be televised on Showtime, going head-to-head with the Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez pay-per-view event taking place on the same date and in the same city.
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