Canelo Alvarez has a fractured right thumb; planned December fight is off

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Canelo Alvarez, right, lands a right against Liam Smith during the ninth round of their fight on Sept. 17 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (LM Otero / Associated Press)

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Canelo Alvarez hits Liam Smith with a left-hand during the ninth round of their fight on Sept. 17 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

(Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

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Canelo Alvarez, left, takes a punch from Liam Smith fight during the WBO junio-miiddleweight championship fight.

(LM Otero / AP)

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Liam Smith attacks Canelo Alvarez during their fight on Sept. 17 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

(Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

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Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones sits with Oscar De La Hoya, left, before the Canelo Alvarez and Liam Smith fight at AT&T Stadium on Sept. 17.

(LM Otero / Associated Press)

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Canelo Alvarez is lead to his corner after knocking down Liam Smith, left, during their junior-middleweight fight on Sept. 17 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

(Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

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Canelo Alvarez looks toward Liam Smith after knocking the fighter to the ground during a bout Sept. 17. (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

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Liam Smith lays on the mat as referee Luis Pavon starts the count after Smith was knocked out by by Canelo Alvarez during the ninth round of their fight on Sept. 17.

(LM Otero / Associated Press)

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Canelo Alvarez celebrates after knocking out Liam Smith, lower middle, during their WBO junior-middleweight bout at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 17, 2016. (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

By Lance Pugmire

Sept. 19, 2016 1 PM PT

Canelo Alvarez suffered a right-thumb fracture in the second-round punch he landed on Liam Smith’s head Saturday, scrapping Alvarez’s plans for a Dec. 10 fight.

A doctor who inspected Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 knockouts) Monday following his ninth-round knockout of Smith to win the World Boxing Organization junior-middleweight title found an avulsion fracture of the right thumb.

“Canelo does not need surgery and the prognosis is excellent,” a Golden Boy Promotions spokesman wrote in a statement released Monday.

“Canelo’s hand will be immobilized for the next six weeks, and he will be unable to fight again in 2016. This does nothing to Canelo’s plans to move up and take on the best in the middleweight division next year.”

Alvarez’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, was eyeing a Dec. 10 fight at Madison Square Garden in New York with the names of middleweights David Lemieux, Billy Joe Saunders and Curtis Stevens mentioned as possible opponents.

Now, Golden Boy Promotions President Eric Gomez said it will be up to Alvarez to either seek a fight in early 2017 or just wait for his scheduled Cinco de Mayo weekend fight in May.

“If he comes off the rest and feels he wants to do a couple fights before [Gennady] Golovkin, we could have a fight in January or February, but he can’t fight in December,” Gomez said.

“It’s up to him as he’s looking forward to September [2017]. September will be the Golovkin fight.”

That’s a confident, fan-pleasing statement in light of the injury as Alvarez, 26, heads to an anticipated meeting with three-belt middleweight champion Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs), who is expected to fight in the late fall.

Saturday night, following Alvarez’s victory, De La Hoya said he’s offered at least a $10 million purse plus undisclosed pay-per-view percentages to Golovkin for a September 2017 bout, but didn’t get an immediate response from Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler.

Gomez has now heard from Loeffler.

“Tom texted me and said he’ll reach out to me to meet this week,” Gomez said.