By Sean Jones: Golden Boy Promotions are looking at new options for Canelo Alvarez for his next fight in September. DAZN and Canelo’s intended target Gennadiy Golovkin is planning on fighting another opponent, and he won’t be available fight to fight Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) in September.
Golovkin could face Canelo this December if both guys win their next fights. The fight is there for Golovkin against Canelo if he wants it, but he’s already made plans to defend his IBF middleweight title.
Canelo vs. Saunders works better in May 2021
Billy Joe Saunders, the guy that Canelo was planning on fighting in May, could be moved to 2021 on Cinco de Mayo. It’s not good timing for Canelo to plan on fighting Saunders in September 2020 because there’s no way of knowing if the British fighter will be able to enter into the United States due to the travel ban.
If Golden Boy takes a risk in scheduling the Canelo-Saunders fight now for September, they could come up empty if he’s not allowed to enter the U.S because of the ban on travel.
Canelo wants his next fight to be at 168, and that rules out Demetrius Andrade and Ryota Murata for him to fight in September.
It’s better for Canelo to fight an opponent from the United States, which would leave the fighters for September:
- Caleb Plant
- David Benavidez
- David Lemieux
Super middleweight champions Benavidez and Plant both live in the United States, so it shouldn’t be a massive hurdle for Golde Boy Promotions to negotiate a fight with one of them for Canelo to face in September. However, Plant and Benavidez are both with Premier Boxing Champions, and that makes it kind of tricky.
Benavidez and Plant too risky for Canelo
The reason why Benavidez and Plant probably won’t get a fight against Canelo isn’t that they’re with PBC. It’s because they would have an excellent chance of defeating him or making him look bad.
It’s still doable, but a little more complicated. But it’s better for Canelo to fight than it is for him to sit idle and miss out on another payday.
Lemieux is from nearby Canada, but the U.S isn’t blocking them from coming to the States. Picking Lemieux (41-4, 34 KOs) would result in a lot of angry boxing fans because many of them would remember his losses to Golovkin, Saunders, Marco Antonio Rubio, and Joachim Aline. But on the positive side, Lemieux has won his last three fights, he has a fan-friendly style of fighting, and he fights at super middleweight.
Canelo’s September fight could be without fans, so it’s essential that he faces someone that won’t ask for a lot of money to fight him.
For American fans, they would like to see Canelo fight Benavidez or Plant next, but that might not be what he wants. Those are both dangerous opponents that could give Canelo a run for his money.
Munguia has never fought at 168
Former WBO junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia (35-0, 28 KOs) recently moved up to the 160-pound division last January, and he didn’t look so hot beating Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan by an 11th round knockout. Asking the 23-year-old Munguia to move up to 168 to fae Canelo could put him at a disadvantage.
If the idea is for Canelo to fight with an advantage, then Munguia would be a good option. He’s young and has never fought at 168, and Canelo’s chance of winning would increase. It’ll look bad on Canelo’s part if his next opponent is pooled up to middleweight division instead of at 168.
If Canelo doesn’t want to fight Benavidez or Plant, then he should face one of the contenders in the division. Dragging the young Munguia up to 168 to face Canelo is a bad look. Canelo would be better off fighting one of these fighters:
- Dmitry Bivol – he’s already volunteered to move down to 168 to fight Canelo.
- Aidos Yerbossynuly
- Daniel Jacobs – a rematch
