Canelo Alvarez close to pulling out of Mayweather’s May 4 card

Floyd Mayweather Jr. won’t sign a contract agreeing to fight Mexico star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez next, so Alvarez is close to taking his star power off Mayweather’s May 4 card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Golden Boy Promotions Chief Executive Richard Schaefer told The Times on Wednesday that he’s working to move an Alvarez super-welterweight title unification bout against World Boxing Assn. champion Austin Trout to April 20 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

“It’s now likely, but it’s not final. ... I’m working on it, but you never know in boxing,” Schaefer told The Times of an Alvarez-Trout fight at the Alamodome.

Alvarez-Trout would be televised on Showtime, not as a pay-per-view event, Schaefer said.

That shift would move Golden Boy’s planned World Boxing Council featherweight title fight between the Southland’s Abner Mares (25-0-1, 13 knockouts) and hard-hitting southpaw Daniel Ponce De Leon of Huntington Park.

Schaefer is also in the process of adding a good junior-welterweight fight to the Mares-Ponde De Leon card featuring Riverside’s Josesito Lopez against Marcos Maidana.

Schaefer said, for now, he has “no idea” what alternate date Mares-Ponce De Leon would slide to.

Alvarez, 22, was positioned to fight Trout as the co-main event to the pay-per-view Mayweather Jr.-Robert Guerrero May 4 welterweight title fight at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

But Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KOs) wanted to be assured he was up next for Mayweather.

“He was on the card, but only with a signed contract that Floyd fight him next,” Schaefer said. “Floyd isn’t opposed to that, but he won’t sign a contract. He says all 100% of his focus needs to be on Robert Guerrero, and he’s not thinking about ‘Canelo’ until after this fight.”

Mayweather signed a new pay-per-view deal with Showtime and its parent network CBS this month, which could have him fight six times in a 30-month span.

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