By Miguel Rivera

According to Eddie Reynoso, trainer of WBO junior middleweight world champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (48-1-1, 34KOs), the injury to his fighter's right hand is not serious enough to prevent a ring return on December 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Canelo hurt his hand in the second round of last night's knockout victory over undefeated Liam Smith to capture the WBO junior middleweight title at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

"He told me that he injured his hand in the second round and I told him that he had to work with left, he always likes to work the left," Reynoso told ESPN Deportes.

The injury did not prevent Canelo from scoring a knockdown in the seventh, then again in the eight, and then a third for the finish in the ninth with a vicious left hook to Smith body.

"We are happy, Canelo showed a lot of things. We know that we suffered in camp to get the championship. We are excited about the achievement. The outcome was beautiful," Reynoso said.

Canelo is expected to make his middleweight debut on the December date. The opponent is unknown but there are several options being mentioned, which include former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux, Willie Monroe Jr., middleweight banger Curtis Stevens, and undefeated WBO middleweight world champion Billy Joe Saunders.