Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez extends contract with Golden Boy Promotions

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has signed a multi-year, multi-fight contract extension with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, keeping Mexico’s most popular boxer aligned with the Los Angeles company that has guided his rise.

“Canelo is a loyal person and he feels Golden Boy has done the best job possible for him,” De La Hoya told The Times on Friday. “There was no hesitation with him at all.”

De La Hoya declined to reveal specifics of the deal, but said it potentially could keep the 25-year-old tied to Golden Boy “for the rest of his career.”

Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 knockouts), the former super-welterweight world champion who’ll fight for Miguel Cotto’s World Boxing Council middleweight belt Nov. 21 in Las Vegas, could’ve sought another promotional deal at the end of the year, De La Hoya said.

“I am loyal. It’s part of my character and that’s why I am extending my contract,” Alvarez said in a statement released by Golden Boy. “[They] know how to build a fighter and elevate him to a world stage as they have done with me and continue to do with many others.”

The signing comes after De La Hoya has weathered the loss of many fighters, including unbeaten featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz, as part of a settlement with powerful boxing manager Al Haymon this year that followed De La Hoya’s split with Golden Boy’s former CEO Richard Schaefer.

Alvarez has already participated in the second-most lucrative pay-per-view fight of all time when he lost a majority decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013.

His fight against Cotto will be televised by HBO pay-per-view, and the WBC has mandated that the winner fight unbeaten World Boxing Assn. middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin next.

“Canelo is the present and future of boxing and we’re going to have a lot of fun putting together the biggest and best fights for him in the coming years,” De La Hoya told The Times.