Retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr recommended Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to duck his mandatory title defense against Gennady Golovkin.

WBC middleweight champion Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) is scheduled to take on IBF, IBO, and WBA middleweight titlist Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) in September, but according to “Money,” there is no reason to rush the Mexican champ to fight the undefeated Kazakh. Mayweather also added that if he was Alvarez’s promoter, he would let the fight build up as a sign of caring for boxers.

“Why is the promoter rushing and trying to throw Canelo right back in there in another rough and tough fight?” Mayweather told Fight Hype. “If they really care about your health and your well-being, if they really care about you and your family, which they don’t, because I know; I’ve been in this sport forever, so I done seen how it works, but if they really care, me, as a promoter, I’d let that fight build,”

However, according to Allan Fox of Boxing News 24, such move of ducking out tough fights could be bad for boxing business. Fox noted that it would also be bad for fighters to be kept out of competitive fights for fear of getting worn in the boxing ring.

Alvarez plans to return in May and would take on a voluntary title defense against an unknown opponent. But according to Alvarez’s trainer Eddy Reynoso, the WBC middleweight champ would be able to keep up to “GGG.”

"Golovkin is a great fighter and we acknowledge that, but he is not the wonder that everyone believes he is,” Reynoso told ESPN Deportes, reports Boxing Scene. “We also have a great boxer."

Meanwhile, Golovkin is also scheduled to take on a voluntary title defense against an unknown opponent. But his camp has stated that the Kazakh knockout artist would return to action in March or April next year.

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