By Angel Flowers: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has entered the part in his career where he is looking for mega fights. The redhead Mexican four-division world champion’s problem is that he doesn’t really have a dancing partner to put on a mega fight.
There are decent fights that he could get into if he wanted, but no one who has his skill along with signature victories that would make them a superstar in their own right.
There are four boxers who wish to take on the Pound for Pound king, but I do not see it happening.
Many of Canelo’s would-be foes want a huge payday despite doing nothing to earn it. The following are boxers who have a solid chance at getting Canelo but probably shouldn’t.
Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
Golovkin is the biggest name people throw out there when they talk about who Canelo should face next. And Golovkin was a long time middleweight king in what was once the softest division in boxing.
Golovkin has always chased dollar signs instead of building his reputation to where Canelo is. Golovkin routinely dismisses tough fights and still believes he should be granted a chance at a mega fight.
It wasn’t long ago that Golovkin wanted to go down to 154 to face Floyd “Money” Mayweather for a money fight. Both Charlo brothers and Erislandy Lara offered to fight Golovkin at the weight.
They would be tough fights with the same amount Golovkin was facing to fight his soft touches; Golovkin declined and instead wanted to go after small middleweight Miguel Cotto for another mega-fight.
Golovkin has been repeatedly called out by Billy Jo Saunders and Demetrius Andrade, two fighters in his division. They would be tough fights against proven champions, both of which Golovkin declined and hasn’t fought either of them until this day.
Saunders ended up going to the super middleweight division to become champion again. The great Andre Ward offered to face GGG at super middleweight, GGG declined that and wanted the mega-fight with either Cotto or Alvarez.
Golovkin finally got Alvarez in the ring and couldn’t knock him out. It doesn’t matter who believes Golovkin won the fight; Golovkin should have knocked him out and left no doubt.
Canelo, on the other hand, offered to fight him again and won. Since fighting Canelo, GGG has faced these fighters. Vanes Martirosyan, Steve Rolls, Sergiy Derevychenko, and Kamil Szeremeta.
None of those are household names, and Golovkin arguably lost the fight against Derevychenko. Instead, Golovkin should have gone up or down and searched for the big fights.
In his weight class, he had undefeated Jermall Charlo, who he has still avoided. If GGG went up in weight, he could have faced off against then-champion Callum Smith or his other two rivals at middleweight who now hold Super Middleweight championships or dared to be great and went after Kovalev in the light heavyweight division.
When Golovkin said he wants to fight the best, what he really means is that he wants to fight Canelo for a big payday, and until then, he will face off against poor opposition until he gets it.
Look for Golovkin to face off against Patrick Wojcicki, Patrice Volny, or Jaime Munguia for his next fight if he doesn’t get Canelo.
Look for him to avoid Jermall Charlo, Billy Jo Saunders, David Benavidez, or a rematch with Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
For someone who wants a rematch with Canelo, Golovkin himself doesn’t give rematches to worthy fighters like Derevyanchenko or Daniel Jacobs. The next fighter on the list who wants Canelo is Jermall Charlo.
JERMALL CHARLO
Jermall Charlo is a good boxer with decent speed and size. He is young, undefeated, and brings energy to his fights. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t have any big names on his resume.
He moved up from Junior Middleweight but still needs to have two or three career-defining fights to boost himself into superstardom, and then he could go after Canelo and untold millions.
I can’t blame Charlo for not fighting Golovkin; Golovkin doesn’t want a tough fight with little reward.
What Charlo probably needs to do is move up to super middleweight and take on Caleb Plant, who would be a good fight just to hold two belts at two different weight classes.
Maybe get a match against the always game Daniel Jacobs or perhaps Demetrius Andrade or Billy Jo Saunders.
If Charlo could make and win those fights, I think he would have a solid chance at Canelo. As is, he just doesn’t have enough names on his resume, not for lack of trying. The next name on the list is Errol Spence.
ERROL SPENCE
Errol Spence has fought Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter, and Kell brook. Three big names that are greater than any foes Golovkin or Charlo has fought.
Spence has stated a desire to move up in weight to challenge himself further and is currently #3 on the pound for pound list.
While he may have unfinished business with Terence Crawford, Spence has fought the other elite welterweights, not names Crawford and has a greater resume at welterweight than Crawford does.
Spence moving up to fight Canelo makes good business sense for him and Canelo. Spence is an undefeated proven commodity that would bring his own fans and has the personality to boost the fight.
In this writer’s opinion, I think this should be Canelo’s next fight. Unfortunately, I think Canelo’s next fight will be at Super Middleweight.
BILLY JO SAUNDERS/CALEB PLANT
Canelo has already stated a desire to unite the super middleweight division. I personally think he is too small for the division despite his win over Callum Smith and Rocky Fielding.
Plant and Saunders are both interchangeable, they both have super middleweight titles, and Canelo wants them. I think the smarter fight is with Plant.
Canelo likes to fight in either Texas or Las Vegas, and Plant lives in Vegas. It makes the most sense for Canelo to fight Plant first.
Plant wouldn’t be hard to find in the ring like Saunders would be, and Plant likes to slug just like Canelo. It would be a fan-friendly fight that Canelo fans love to see.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Anyone in the Light Heavyweight division. And anyone who has seen Canelo fight at Super middleweight knows he is outsized. Anyone who saw the Canelo – Kovalev fight knew Canelo shouldn’t be fighting at Light Heavyweight.
The champions at Light Heavyweight, Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, are great fighters and proven champions. Both should be worried about fighting each other instead of the middleweight champion.
They could also dare to be great and do what they want Canelo to do, go up two divisions and start pounding it out against the likes of Andy Ruiz, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, or Deontay Wilder.
I don’t see either man doing that; And I see them both continuously calling out smaller men much like Golovkin did while Canelo was a super welterweight and Mayweather was at welterweight.
I think if either were serious, then they would drain down to middleweight for the fight. Add to the fact that the average American could see Bivol and Beterbiev walk down the street and have no idea who they are.
In closing, Canelo will have to wait on his mega-fight since he is the only megastar within twenty pounds of himself.
Spence would be the closest he could come to fighting someone who is both deserving and with Star power. Many much bigger people will call him out but refuse to fight someone bigger than they are.
Many others like Golovkin will refuse to fight a live body and instead continuously beat up on soft touches and call out Canelo.
Canelo himself has already secured himself in the hall of fame and is now trying to become a legend. Hopefully, he can meet another legend along the way and finally have his super fight.