By Kenneth Friedman: Saul Canelo Alvarez has started training to prepare for his next fight in November or December, and he’s looking powerful. There’s a strong possibility his next fight will be against WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. Canelo looked good for having been out of the ring for three months since his 12 round unanimous decision win over Daniel Jacobs on May 4. Canelo looks like he’s weighing in the 170s right now, which is a real positive.
For Canelo Alvarez to rip the WBO 175 pound title away from Kovalev in November/December, he’s going to need as much size as he can get. Kovalev rehydrates into the 190s for his fights at light heavyweight, so Canelo will be giving away a lot of weight.
Canelo not wearing knee brace
What’s noticeable is Canelo wasn’t wearing a knee brace on his right leg, and that’s a good sign. There have been rumors that Canelo’s right knee has giving him problems. That was one of the reasons why he chose not to fight on September 14. The other other reason is he didn’t have an opponent. Golden Boy Promotions was in negotiations for a fight between Canelo and Kovalev, as well as Sergiy Derevyanchenko, but neither fight could get made.
For Canelo to beat Kovalev, he’ll both legs to be 100%, because he can’t sit on the ropes. The way Canelo fought against Gennady Golovkin in their first fight in 2017, fighting with his back against the ropes, he’ll be picked apart by Kovalev. GGG is a good fighter, but he’s not as tall as the 6’0″ Kovalev, and he doesn’t possess his boxing ability. That’s why Canelo why Canelo was able to get away with fighting on the ropes against Golovkin, but that same tactic won’t work against Kovalev. It might be a disaster for Canelo if he stays on the ropes against Kovalev.
Kovalev defending against Yarde this Saturday
Sergey (33-3-1, 28 KOs) is fighting this Saturday night against challenger Yarde (18-0, 17 KOs) in Russia. Kovalev’s promoter Bob Arum is saying that Canelo is the guy that they intend on facing in November. As long as everything goes right with the unbeaten Yarde, Canelo-Kovalev is possible for Nov. The Kovalev-Yarde fight will be shown on ESPN+. It’ll be taking place at the Traktor Sport Palace, in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
Ready to go 🚘 #DoItYourWay pic.twitter.com/zXC9jFWgFw
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) August 15, 2019
GGG not in the picture for Canelo
Gennady Golovkin has become the forgotten man as far as Canelo is concerned. Initially, Canelo told Golovkin he needed to win a world title before he would consider fighting him a third time, but that might not be enough. GGG let Canelo’s advice go in one ear and out the other. In Golovkin’s last fight, he defeated Steve Rolls by a fourth round knockout on June 8. It was a mistake obviously for Golovkin to fight the 35-year-old Rolls, because the match did nothing for him. It seems that Golovkin might have assumed that Canelo would fight him, because this is the match that DAZN wanted.
Canelo surprised everyone by deciding that he wasn’t going to fight Golovkin, and that he wanted to go in a different direction. Now with Canelo ignoring him, Golovkin will be fighting for the vacant IBF middleweight title against Sergiy Derevyanchenko on October 5. GGG can only hope that once he wins the IBF belt, Canelo will want to fight him again. If not, then Golovkin may need to take on WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade in a unification fight. Golovkin would stand to gain a lot more by moving up to 168 to challenge Callum Smith and/or Billy Joe Saunders for their titles.