Lem's latest: Hopkins won't fight Ward, eyes Bute - Next

IS SAUL ALVAREZ COMING TO AMERICA FOR HIS NEXT FIGHT?

Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya said he wants to bring THE RING's No. 2-rated junior middleweight Saul "Canelo" Alvarez  (39-0-1, 29 KOs) to America for his next fight.

The 21-year-old Alvarez scored an HBO-televised fifth-round stoppage over former welterweight beltholder Kermit Cintron in the third defense of his WBC 154-pound crown before Alvarez's partisan fans at Monumental Plaza de Toros, in Mexico City on Nov. 26.

"We want to bring Canelo stateside," said De La Hoya. "Canelo wants to fight in the backyards of his opponents, so we're bringing Canelo to the fans."

There has been talk of staging an all-Mexican clash featuring Alvarez against WBC middleweight beltholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (44-0-1, 31 KOs), who is coming off a fifth-round knockout over Peter Manfredo Jr. on Nov. 19.

But can Chavez Jr.'s Top Rank Inc. and Alvarez's Golden Boy make that happen?

"I hope so. I hope that it does happen. But, like I said, the only promoter out there right now that doesn't want to work with anybody is Top Rank," said De La Hoya.

"Golden Boy Promotions is willing to work with any promoter. Kathy Duva, Dan Goossen. Don King. Gary Shaw. But, Top Rank, that's a whole different story. They do not want to work with us."

PAULIE MALIGNAGGI'S TAKE ON LAMONT PETERSON-AMIR KHAN

Former IBF junior welterweight titleholder Paulie Malignaggi (30-4, 6 KOs) offered his perspective on Saturday night's HBO-televised split-decision upset victory by RING's No. 6-rated challenger Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KOs) over English-born, RING No. 1-rated junior welterweight Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KOs), who was dethroned as WBA and IBF beltholder  at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

An 11th-round knockout loser to Khan in May of last year, Malignaggi was on hand for Peterson-Khan as a ringside color commentator for the British Broadcasting Company's coverage, and will do so again on Saturday for Ward-Froch.

Khan was deducted one point each during the the seventh and 12th rounds of a fight officiated by Virginia's Joe Cooper, which Peterson won by scores of 113-112 on the cards of North Carolina's Valerie Dorsett and New Jersey's George Hill, with Puerto Rico's Nelson Vazquez, scoring it for Khan, 115-110.

Khan was penalized for pushing Peterson's head down in the seventh, and for shoving Peterson away in the 12th. Malignaggi, nevertheless, scored the fight for Khan, 114-111, and RingTV.com had for Khan, 113-112.

Click here for round-by-round live blog.

"I had it for Khan, but I don't think that the referee did anything wrong," said Malignaggi. "I just think that it was finally a referee who enforced some rules in a fight that Amir Khan was involved in."

Malignaggi said he thought Khan fouled him in their fight by pushing his head down.

"With [referee] Steve Smoger in our fight, I told him to get him off my head about to get him my head about 50 times," said Malignaggo. "I was telling my guys that they should have talked to Smoger particularly in that fight. Amir is already difficult enough to fight. If no rules are enforced, Bro? Then you've really got problems."

Malignaggi felt that Khan did the same during July's fifth-round knockout of dethroning Zab Judah,  whom Khan dethroned as IBF titleholder.

"Even in the knockout that he had of Zab Judah last year, that wasn't a low blow that ended the fight, it was a good body shot. But what was he doing at the time that he threw the punch?" said Malignaggi.

"Amir was holding Zab's head down, and with the other hand, he was hitting Zab to the body and got the stoppage. If people weren't looking enough at past Amir Khan fights, they would have missed it."