Two-weight world champion Alvarez, 25, most recently defeated Amir Khan to successfully defend his WBC middleweight belt, albeit at a catchweight of 155lb. Following the victory, the Mexican was immediately ordered to face knockout artist and unified champ Golovkin in what was touted as the biggest fight in boxing.
However, Alvarez decided to vacate the belt instead of facing the dangerous Kazakh and soon met a backlash from fans who claimed he was ducking Golovkin.
Rhodes, a former opponent of Canelo, is not one of that majority and is adamant that his old Mexican foe would shy away from no fight. Rhodes was stopped in the twelfth round when challenging Alvarez for his WBC belt back in 2011.
“I don’t think he ducked GGG (Golovkin). The WBC ordered the fight and it wasn’t very fair on Canelo, if it was the other way around and GGG had to take the fight on such short notice he would have vacated as well,” Rhodes exclusively told World Boxing News.
“Let me tell you that Canelo is scared of nobody, it just wasn’t the right time for everyone involved and the fight was being pushed too far by the organisations. He is a proud Mexican and he does not duck fighters.
“I do believe Canelo beats GGG if the fight does happen and I think it will at the right time when both camps and fighters are happy.
“He is a huge star now and is at the stage where he is taking on all challengers – his team have completely let him off the leash. He will fight anyone and will be around for a long long time at the highest level.”
Matt Horan is lead writer for WBN. Follow on Twitter @mhoran123
