Angel Heredia (red cap) in the training camp of Jean Pascal in Las Vegas earlier this month (Photo: Chris Robinson – www.HustleBoss.com)

By Chris Robinson

According to a report from Ben Thompson of FightHype.com this past week, WBC junior middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is considering the addition of a new strength and conditioning coach to his team ahead of his September return to the ring.

Alvarez is coming off of his biggest win as a professional on April 20th, as he defeated a very determined Austin Trout over twelve competitive rounds inside of the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Despite the victory, Alvarez seemed to slow down over the second half of the fight, with his work rate noticeably dipping.

One of the men said to be in consideration by Alvarez is the controversial Angel Heredia, who confirmed the reports.

“I’ve been getting a lot of calls from several people in Mexico,” Heredia would tell me recently. “But they didn’t specify exactly what the whole situation was. At this point, yeah, I’m assuming that he’s looking for a conditioning coach. I know that people from Mexico have been calling me and have been leaving a few messages, but nothing concrete.”

In Heredia’s opinion, Alvarez is in need of some assistance in the wake of his performance vs. Trout.

“Definitely, that was one of his major problems, that his endurance was off completely,” said Heredia. “And, as the rounds went by, he was just decreasing in punching power and you could see he was gasping for air.”

And while the 22-year old Alvarez is one of the hottest names in the sport, Heredia doesn’t envision that the two men will be working together anytime soon due to his hectic schedule.

“Even if he was, I have a date with Juan Manuel Marquez for the Bradley-Marquez fight,” Heredia stated, referencing the proposed September 14th showdown at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

“I would probably not be able to help him,” Heredia continued. “The same thing happened with Juanma Lopez, where he was looking for me and I couldn’t take the job because I had the Jean Pascal training camp.”

Heredia had spent his recent weeks in Las Vegas working with Pascal in advance of his proposed May 25th showdown with former super middleweight champion Lucian Bute. The fight would be postponed, however, after it was reported that Bute suffered a left hand injury earlier this month.

With several high-profile athletes inquiring about his services, Heredia claims that he is in a position where he has to pick and choose which clients to take on and he admits that his schedule in the coming months is uncertain because of so many moving parts.

There is a strong possibility that Pascal will take a tune up fight in late July or August before pursuing the Bute match at a rescheduled date and that could draw Heredia back to Las Vegas.

There is also the possibility that Top Rank could move Bradley-Marquez to a date in October if Floyd Mayweather elects to follow through with his scheduled fight in September at the MGM Grand.

Heredia also knows that he will likely be in camp later in the year with former lightweight titlist Brandon Rios, who faces off with Manny Pacquiao on November 23rd in Macau, China.

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Chris Robinson can be reached at Trimond@aol.com