By Aragon Garcia: Canelo Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) has already started training camp for his next fight on May 2. He’s looking powerful and sharp already, and he still has over 3 months to go until the 2nd of May. The possible opponent for Canelo’s next fight are down to these three:
- Billy Joe Saunders
- Callum Smith
- Ryota Murata
WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) was thought to be the guy that Canelo would be fighting next on DAZN, but ESPN MX is reporting that fight won’t happen in May. They state that WBO super middleweight champion Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs) and WBA Super World 168-lb champion Callum (27-0, 19 KOs) are the leading suspects to get the fight with Alvarez.
Alvarez can fight anyone and it’ll do well
Canelo will do well no matter who he faces on May 2 on Cinco de Mayo. For a lot of U.S boxing fans, they don’t want Canelo to fight the Japanese fighter Murata next, because that would mean that he would likely be traveling to face him in Japan.
Canelo’s fans want to be able to see him fight live. If Canelo fights Murat in Japan, that would leave a lot of his loyal following behind. It’s up to Canelo though. He has to look out for his business interests, and fighting in Japan would be a good move for him.
Canelo is a MACHINE right now, and his opponents are basically just cardboard props that come along for the ride. It doesn’t matter if Canelo fights a popular guy or not. His fights will still do well for him. Regrettably, there are NO popular fighters at 160 or 168 besides Canelo. He already exposed Gennadiy Golovkin TWICE, and his star has arguably faded to what is the equivalent of a ‘black dwarf,’ which is a star that has cooled and no longer emits light or heat. Canelo already started the process of GGG going supernova in 2017.
These are the positives and minuses of Canelo facing Saunders or Smith:
- Billy Joe Saunders: Fighting the unbeaten Saunders gives Canelo the opportunity win another world title by snatching his WBO super middleweight strap, and gaining boxing fans in the UK. Saunders is from England, and he’s got a following. Beating Saunders gives Canelo the WBO belt, and it will win him a lot more fans in the UK. Those are the positives for Canelo in facing the 30-year-old Saunders. The negatives are that no knows who Saunders is in the U.S, aside from the hardcore boxing fans, and he won’t get as much appreciation from fans. Advertising the fight with Saunders could prove to be a hardship, because he’s got an accent and it’s sometimes hard to understand what he’s saying unless he speaks slowly. Since Saunders isn’t well known or held in high regard by American fans, Canelo won’t receive the kudos from fans that he would deserve for beating him. With Saunders having looked bad in his last fight against Marcelo Esteban Coceres, that’s another negative in Canelo fighting him.
- Callum Smith: Beating Smith will enable Canelo to defeat the guy that some boxing fans believe to be the #1 fighter in the 168-lb division. A year ago, people saw the 6’3″ Smith as the #1 fighter in the weight class. However, Smith’s last fight against John Ryder has changed that perception. Smith won a controversial 12 round decision against a very average looking fighter in Ryder. Smith is now seen behind David Benavidez and Caleb Plant as the best fighter in the 168-lb division. The negatives behind Canelo fighting Smith is that he’s not known by U.S fans, and he’s coming off a controversial decision.
Canelo needs a good win to setup trilogy fight with GGG
DAZN wants Canelo to take the third fight with Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) in September, which could effectively end their rivalry. For many reasons, Canelo is ambivalent about fighting Golovkin again after having already fought him twice. This writer believes that Canelo doesn’t want to hurt the 37-year-old GGG, who is no longer fighter that he once was.
If DAZN wants Canelo to fight Golovkin again, they have to make it worthwhile for him to do so. Canelo has other frontiers he wants to explore with his career, and he doesn’t want to get tied down fighting a collapsed star. It’s no longer appealing to Canelo to fight GGG at this stage of his deterioration.
