By Dan Ambrose: Canelo Alvarez won’t be fighting Caleb Plant next on December 19th as hoped. There wasn’t enough time for Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) and IBF super-middleweight champion Plant (20-0, 12 KOs) to build the December 19th for pay-per-view, according to Mike Coppinger.
It was too good to be true about Canelo fighting Plant. Many boxing fans were interested in seeing that fight, as it was a true 50-50 type of match on paper. It’s still possible for Canelo to fight Plant in the future, possibly in 2021.
Hopefully, Canelo doesn’t use this opportunity to face Avni Yildirim in December because that’s a fight that is perceived to be a horrible mismatch.
There won’t be much interest from fans seeing Canelo face Yildirim for the vacant WBC super-middleweight title. That would be a huge downgrade from Plant for Canelo.
Canelo still plans on fighting, but the options are less appealing. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn is interested in Canelo facing his fighters Callum Smith or John Ryder on DAZN. Hearn will be overjoyed if Canelo picks Ryder or Smith for his December fight.
WBA super-middleweight champion Callum (27-0, 19 KOs) is a good fighter, and there would be some interest if Canelo faces him.
It would be an odd move on Canelo’s part to return to DAZN so soon after his litigation with them ended recently. Canelo signed an 11-fight, $365 million contracts in 2018.
He got through just three of the eleven fights before leaving the company. Canelo reportedly made $80 million from those three fights. If Canelo makes similar money now that he’s a free agent, he’ll need to face popular fighters that the U.S boxing fans want to see him fight.
Hearn would add WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders to the list of potential opponents for Canelo’s December fight. Still, he’s already scheduled to face former four-time world title challenger Martin Murray next. Saunders and Murray are fighting on December 4th.
Canelo wouldn’t have much to worry about if he faces John Ryder because he’s not a big puncher, and he has slow hand speed. However, Canelo will face a minimal upside in facing Ryder, as he’s coming off of a loss to Callum Smith last year in December.
The U.S hardcore boxing fans know of Ryder, but he’s not popular with. Casual fans in the States aren’t familiar with Ryder, and they’re not going to get excited about Canelo fighting him.
Canelo, 30, is coming off of a knockout win over Sergey Kovalev last November. It was a good win for Alvarez, as he dominated the aging Kovalev before knocking him out in the 11th.