By Barry Holbrook: Canelo Alvarez and Sergiy Derevyanchenko are in negotiations for a fight on September 14 on DAZN. According to @MikeCoppinger, Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) and the two-time middleweight world title challenger Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs), will be fighting at 168. Derevyanchenko would be moving up from 160 for the fight.

The 5’9″ Derevyanchenko is the same size as Canelo, and he won’t be a disadvantage for him to move up to 168. Neither fighter will have the advantage.

Sergiy lives in New York

Derevyanchenko lives in Brooklyn, New York. So there are no issues with travel restrictions keeping him from entering the U.S. If Canelo were to face British fighter Billy Joe Saunders on September 14, that might not work if the travel ban is still in place.

Canelo can’t afford to have another fight postponed in 2020, as he wants to fight twice this year. He can’t do that if he takes the risk of scheduling a fight for September against a fighter based outside of the U.S.

In the eyes of a lot of boxing fans, they prefer to see Canelo fighting Derevyanchenko than they do a third fight against Gennadiy Golovkin. After the way that Derevyanchenko battered Golovkin last October, he’s the more qualified guy to face Canelo.

Derevyanchenko deserves the fight with Canelo after what he went through with his controversial decision defeat to Golovkin. What’s disappointing is Golovkin chose not to give Derevyanchenko a rematch.

Other fighters are in consideration for Canelo besides Derevyanchenko, but not Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs). He’s already made up his mind that he’ll be defending his IBF middleweight title against his mandatory Kamil Szeremeta (24-0, 5 KOs) next.

Canelo vs. Derevyanchenko great fight

There are few more deserving of a fight against Canelo Alvarez than the 2008 Olympian Derevyanchenko. He hurt Golovkin with body shots last October, and him backing up all night with his pressure. It was a body-punching clinic that Derevyanchenko put on against Golovkin, and he wasn’t prepared for it.

Before that fight, Derevyanchenko had been a head-hunter his entire five-year pro career, but he completely changed his fighting style from one training camp.

It usually takes years for a fighter to develop into a good body puncher, but Derevyanchenko was able to do it from one training camp.

You’ve got to give Derevanchenko’s trainer Andre Rozier a lot of credit for the way he was able to transform Derevyanchenko’s fighting style.

Derevyanchenko might be a less expensive option for Canelo than Billy Joe Saunders, who he was supposed to have fought last May. The pandemic stopped the fight from happening. Saunders has since gotten himself in hot water with a disturbing video posted on social media.

Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez says Canelo’s next fight in September could be behind closed doors. “With no fans, we’re actually discussing all the details now. But he’s open to it,” said Gomez to ESPN.com on Canelo’s next fight.

Some casual boxing fans that didn’t watch the Golovkin vs. Derevyanchenko fight believe that Canelo is cherry-picking by potentially facing the Ukrainian fighter.

For the people that saw the Golovkin-Derevyanchenko match, they saw Derevyanchenko as the better fighter. In that respect, Canelo would be making the right decision in facing Derevyanchenko because he showed that he’s a superior fighter than Golovkin. If Canelo can beat Derevyanchenko, he would be cementing the fact that he’s a better fighter than GGG.

Fighting behind closed doors

Thus far, live crowds aren’t allowed for sporting events in the U.S, and it’s unknown if that’ll change by the time Canelo fights in September. Canelo is willing to fight without fans, and that says a lot about him.

The other top fighters in boxing want to wait until live crowds are allowed at events before they fight against. In other words, they don’t want to lose out on the gate money, which can account for many millions. Canelo, 29, is showing a lot of class by being willing to give up the gate money to fight behind closed doors. That’s a self-less move on his part.

Derevyanchenko’s only two career defeats were close decision losses to Daniel Jacobs and Gennadiy Golovkin. Most boxing fans believe Derevyanchenko should have been given the win over GGG on October 5 last year in New York. Derevyanchenko outworked Golovkin, hurt him to the body, and made him look bad in front of his own fans.

Derevyanchenko lost a 12 round split decision to Jacobs in December 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York. In that fight, Derevyanchenko was dropped in the first round by Jacobs, but he came on strong and made it very close.

If not for the knockdown, Derevyanchenko might have won the fight. The scores were 115-112, 115-112 for Jacobs, and 114-113 for Derevyanchenko.

Sources: Canelo Alvarez-Sergiy Derevyanchenko in talks for Sept. 14 at 168. Canelo was set to fight Billy Joe Saunders, DAZN’s preferred May 2 foe, before pandemic hit. Other opponents being considered for Canelo, but it won’t be GGG. Unlikely to see Canelo-GGG 3 until early 2021

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) June 3, 2020

Other options for Canelo?

Unless Canelo and Golden Boy want to revisit the Saunders fight, the options for the Mexican star’s September 14 fight are slim. WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Ryota Murata was mentioned this week as a future opponent for Canelo, but that’s not for 2020.

That’s likely a fight for the future when the pandemic blows over, but not now.

These are Canelo’s other options for September 14:

Demetrius Andrade
Jaime Munguia
John Ryder
Callum Smith
Caleb Plant
Chris Eubank, Jr.
David Lemieux
David Benavidez

Of that bunch, Eubank Jr would appear to be the best option for a behind closed doors fight against Canelo. Eubank Jr. isn’t a big star in the U.S, and he’s very interested in fighting Canelo.

Munguia is someone that Golden Boy is saving for later to fight Canelo. IBF super-middleweight champion Caleb Plant and WBC champ David Benavidez are guys that Canelo needs to fight in front of a live crowd, as those guys are will bring in a lot of fans.

As for former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux, he’s not done enough to rebuild his career after his embarrassing loss to Saunders in 2017. Golovkin has already beaten Lemieux, so Canelo wouldn’t gain anything in fighting him.