By Sean Jones: Promoter Bob Arum has revealed that his fighter Ryota Murata will NOT be fighting Canelo Alvarez next in May, but he’s hoping the fight can still take place later this year, according to @SIChrisMannix.
Canelo vs. Murata talks to restart for later this year
Arum says he’ll try and restart negotiations between Canelo and WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) later this year. However, that may not happen if Canelo faces Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy match in September.
Canelo now expected to face Saunders or Callum next
That’s the fight that a lot of people expect to take place. But if Canelo fights three times in 2020, he could potentially squeeze the Japanese star Murata in for December, provided that he’s not too beaten up from his possible September trilogy match against GGG.
No reason was given by the Top Rank promoter Arum for why the Canelo vs. Murata clash won’t happen in the first half of 2020, but the rumors are the negotiations hit a snag and there wasn’t enough time to workout a deal. Canelo (52-1-2, 36 KOs) needs to have his opponent lined up quickly for his May 2 fight in order to properly promote the fight.
With Canelo’s choices for May 2nd being down to Billy Saunders and Callum Smith, it’s even more important that the deal is done in speedy fashion. It’s going to take a massive amount of marketing on the behalf of Golden Boy Promotions and Matchroom Boxing to attract interest in a fight between Canelo and Saunders or Smith.
Those are two British fighters, who have no following in the U.S, and both have weak records filled with lesser opposition. Not only that, Callum and Saunders are coming off dreadful performances against John Ryder and Marcelo Esteban Coceres respectively.
Saunders could make it UGLY against Canelo
The news of Murata not being in the picture for Canelo’s next fight has got to make Saunders and Smith happy. Saunders was seen as the frontrunner to land the Canelo fight on May 2 until recently, when Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya shot that rumor out of the water by saying that Billy Joe is NOT in the lead
The way that De La Hoya ruled out Saunders for Canelo, he made it clear that it was a match that he has NO interest in making. It’s easy to understand why De La Hoya wouldn’t want Canelo to fight Saunders, because it’s a match where it would be difficult for him to look good. Saunders would likely run all around the ring with the objective of just making Canelo look bad in winning.
It’s doubtful that Saunders would stand his ground long enough to make a real fight of it. He would be more focused on surviving at all costs for 12 rounds, and making Canelo look silly at times in trying to land his shots. In other words, Saunders would be spoiling, and not putting in a game effort to try and win.
On an @SInow boxing podcast coming on Friday, Bob Arum—co-promoter for Ryota Murata—told me that Murata-Canelo in Japan was dead for the spring, but there are hopes a deal can be resuscitated for later in the year.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) February 5, 2020
U.S fans want Canelo to fight Charlo, Beterbiev or Bivol
Canelo is in a position where he’s got tough choices if he wants to give the American boxing fans fights they actually want to see. They arguably have no interest in watching Canelo fight Callum, Saunders or Demetrius Andrade.
Unfortunately, those are three guys that are signed with Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn, and they fight on the same platform as Canelo on DAZN. With Saunders, Callum and Andrade being with DAZN, they’re in the default position for Canelo to pick from for his next fight, and in his future fights.
Golovkin is with DAZN as well, but he’s defending his IBF middleweight title next in April against mandatory Kamil Szeremeta. That’s also a fight that American fans have no interest in seeing, but it’s more of a stay busy match for GGG.
If Golovkin didn’t face Szeremeta, he would have pressure on him to give Sergiy Derevyanchenko a badly needed rematch. As far as Canelo goes, he’s got limited choices. It’s not only bad for fans and Canelo, but it’s terrible for DAZN potentially if he wastes one of his valuable fights on his contract with them.
Canelo fighting Saunders or Callum likely won’t bring in nearly as many subscribers to DAZN as a third fight with GGG or a match against Charlo, Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev.
U.S fans want to see Canelo fight these guys in May:
- Jermall Charlo
- Artur Beterbiev
- Dmitry Bivol
- David Benavidez
- Caleb Plant
- Gennadiy Golovkin
- Jermell Charlo