Eddie Hearn: Canelo Alvarez wants to fight Callum Smith

By Boxing News - 07/17/2020 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Eddie Hearn says he had a conversation with Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez about Callum Smith facing Canelo Alvarez, and Smith is willing to accept less money to take the fight.

Hearn came away from the conversation with Gomez feeling confident that Callum (27-0, 19 K.O.s) will be getting the fight against Alvarez (53-1-2 36 K.O.s) on September 12 on DAZN.

It’s still not a certainty that the Smith, 30, will get the fight with Canelo, but Hearn believes that he’ got a good chance. If not Smith, then Hearn believes John Ryder, who he also promotes, will get the fight with Canelo.

Canelo picking Smith would make Hearn happy and a handful of fans, but it wouldn’t impress a lot of people. This would be a negligible move for Canelo to face Smith, as he’s NOT popular in the United States or the U.K.

That’s the problem. It’ll make Hearn and Matchroom happy if Canelo selects Smith, but it won’t register with U.S. fans. They don’t know who Smith is, and the ones that do, think he lost his last fight to Ryder.

Image: Eddie Hearn: Canelo Alvarez wants to fight Callum Smith

Hearn: Canelo WON’T fight Jason Quigley

“I wrote to Golden Boy a couple of weeks ago and told them, ‘You’ve got Callum Smith, John Ryder, Demetrius Andrade, and Dmitry Bivol, all ready,” said Hearn to IFL TV on offering four of his Matchroom fighters for Canelo fight on September 12.

“I gave them the numbers that those guys wanted, and we have had some conversations with [Golden Boy president] Eric Gomez regarding Callum Smith. We started talking about numbers.

“We haven’t on any of the other three that I’ve mentioned. We’re in the hat, and it would be an honor for any of those guys to fight Canelo. It’s a massive opportunity.

“Canelo is not going to fight Jason Quigley,” said Hearn. “He’s not going to fight Tureano Johnson. The great thing about Canelo is he’s a real champion, and he wants to fight great fighters,” said Hearn.

Hopefully, Golden Boy doesn’t choose fringe contender Jason Quigley (18-1, 14 K.O.s) because that would be an even worse choice than when Canelo fought paper champion, Rocky Fielding, in 2018.

The Fielding fight was the first one on Canelo’s 11-fight contract with DAZN, and since then, he’s already padded his record in facing old guy Sergey Kovalev in his last bout.

Quigley wouldn’t bring in the subscribers on DAZN, and it’s possible that the streaming giant wouldn’t approve him as an option for Canelo. They need quality opponents for them to lure their subscribers back, and Quigley wouldn’t do it for them.

Callum Smith is who Canelo wants to fight

“You know who I believe Canelo wants to fight? Callum Smith. You know why? Because he’s the WBA super middleweight champion of the world, he’s ranked #1 in the world at 168 pounds, and he’s the Ring Magazine champion,” said Hearn.

“That’s the difference between great fighters. He could go and fight Jason Quigley if he wanted to. Not in a million years, he wouldn’t. It wouldn’t be approved anyway, I believe.

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“Look, we hope we get it. It’s all about money. We’re in an era right now where everybody is looking for a discount. It’s the game you’re in, and right now, everyone wants a discount,” said Hearn.

Eddie shouldn’t get his hopes up because Golden Boy are using the shotgun approach to selecting Canelo’s next opponent. They’ve floated a ton of different names, and it’s been a real mess. It gives the impression that they’re confused and not sure who they want.

Golden Boy should pick the best available fighter for Canelo, which would be Dmitry Bivol, David Benavidez, or Caleb Plant. All the rest of the guys won’t attract enough interest for them to be worthwhile for Canelo to fight.

If Canelo takes a fight with Smith, it would to try and impress some of the boxing fans, who still view him as the #1 fighter at 168. Unfortunately, we’ve seen from Smith’s recent fight against Ryder last November that he’s NOT the top guy at super middleweight, and not even close.

Callum is a good fighter, but he’s more of a bottom five type of guy. You can’t rate him above David Benavidez, Caleb Plant, Ryder, or Daniel Jacobs.

Hearn waiting for the phone call from Golden Boy

“Callum Smith has said, ‘I will take less money to fight Canelo Alvarez compared to where we were three months ago,'” said Hearn. “Ryder is right in the mix as well. No offers, and no conversations, but I saw Hopkin’s comments where he said, ‘He’s going to fight John Ryder.’ I thought, ‘Wow.’

“I haven’t heard anything yet. He’s ready. All these guys are in the gym, waiting for the call. We’re totally in the hands of Canelo and Golden Boy in this situation.

Image: Eddie Hearn: Canelo Alvarez wants to fight Callum Smith

“We’re literally waiting for a phone call. It would be an honor to get a phone call for any of those guys. Canelo Alvarez is an incredible champion, and he wants to fight the best, and I think he wants to fight Callum Smith.

“Can we agree to the numbers? Maybe. But that’s a big fight to launch boxing back in America,” Hearn said.

It would be funny if Golden Boy winds up picking a non-Matchroom fighter for Canelo to fight on September 12. They might as well because they don’t have anyone worth fighting.