A few notes from around the boxing world:

• Golden Boy Promotions and British promoter Frank Warren are working on a deal that would see middleweight titlist Billy Joe Saunders defend his belt against an opponent to be determined on the Canelo Alvarez-Liam Smith HBO PPV undercard on Sept. 17 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Golden Boy vice president Eric Gomez told ESPN.com. If Saunders appears it means Warren and Golden Boy will have made a multi-fight deal under which Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) would fight Sept. 17 and then defend his belt against Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) in December on HBO, as long as they both win, in what would be Alvarez’s 160-pound debut. Alvarez, the lineal middleweight champion, is moving down to junior middleweight to challenge Smith before moving up to the full 160-pound limit ahead of a possible 2017 showdown with unified titleholder Gennady Golovkin.
• One fight that won’t be on the Alvarez-Smith HBO PPV card, as was planned, is interim heavyweight titleholder Luis “King Kong” Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs) against Alexander Ustinov (33-1, 24 KOs), Gomez told ESPN.com. Ortiz, who had agreed to the bout, is seeking more money. “We’re having some problems with Ortiz, and we’re trying to work them out,” Gomez said. “But the fight is not going to happen in September. It’s not on the Canelo card. We’ll see if we can work out our differences.”

  Promoter Vlad Hrunov, who is involved with Ustinov, told ESPN.com, “We are extremely disappointed to hear that despite agreeing [to] terms, signing a contract and announcing a date, Luis Ortiz is refusing to honor the agreement to fight on Sept. 17 and has withdrawn. Golden Boy Promotions has acted with integrity and in good faith.”

• Heavyweight Andy Ruiz (28-0, 19 KOs) will face Franklin Lawrence (21-2-2, 16 KOs) in a 10-rounder that will headline “Solo Boxeo Tecate” (UniMas) on Sept. 10 at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, California, Top Rank announced. In another 10-rounder on the card, which could make the broadcast depending on how long other fights go, former lightweight world title challenger Raymundo Beltran (30-7-1, 18 KOs) will face Tomas Mendez (22-7, 14 KOs) of the Dominican Republic.