By Eric Hughes: In his post-fight interview last Saturday night following his third-round knockout win over Avni Yildirim (21-3, 12 KOs) in Miami, Florida, Canelo Alvarez said that he ‘always fights the best,’ which is debatable.
There are some elite fighters that boxing fans would like to see Canelo (55-1-2, 37 KOs) square off against, but there are five fighters that would make for both an intriguing and entertaining match with Canelo.
The first opponent for Canelo that would provide fireworks would be newly acquired Golden Boy Promotions fighter Gilberto Zurdo Ramirez. Even the storylines to this fight would draw interest 2 Mexican fighters both were promoted by GBP.
Canelo once the face of GBP against Ramirez the newest member of the GBP stable. Both fighters are undefeated so to add more fuel to the fire the old saying that ‘someone’s ‘O’ has got to go’ would be a befitting theme to add.
This could potentially add to the popular fighting history of Mexican greats. Staying in the GBP stable for the second opponent for Canelo to face would be Jaime Munguia. This is an interesting bout because they were former stablemates and once upon a time Munguia was being groomed to become an opponent for Canelo.
This fight would definitely provide action-packed rounds as Munguia is a young Mexican warrior that has shown that he can bang with hitters. Oscar De La Hoya has two opportunities to add a defeat to his former fighter’s record.
Either of these two fighters would have a punches chance to unseat the pound for pound king. The third opponent really needs no introduction as he was formerly known as Canelo’s mandatory in Jermall Charlo.
This fight’s storyline would be entitled “The wait is finally over.” Charlo has looked impressive in his last couple of bouts and fits the mold of boxer that hardcore fans would like to see Canelo mix it up with.
The fourth opponent that would provide fans with a 12 round Thriller is not Demetrius Andrade. It actually would be Jermell Charlo, who has refocused himself and became a knockout artist since his defeat to Tony Harrison.
If Canelo were to defeat Jermall Charlo it is no secret that his brother would jump at the opportunity to avenge his brother’s loss in a fight titled “Unfinished Business.”
The last fighter that will be mentioned has stated in the past that he would welcome the idea of facing Canelo in the ring. Errol Spence Jr would have many doubters that would say that he is too small and probably point to different occasions where fighters jumped up multiple weight classes and came up short.
Remember Guillermo Rigondeaux v Vasily Lomachencko, Amir Khan v. Canelo, Kell Brook v. Gennadiy Golovkin? These would be the type of storylines to motivate Spence to come out of the ring victorious.
Everyone knows that the best is not fighting the best and after the performance, we saw last night boxing fans would at least agree that these fighters would last longer than the time it takes to prepare a quick meal.