By Sean Jones: Eddie Hearn says Canelo Alvarez is considering moving up to 175 to challenge unbeaten IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev next if he successfully defeats Caleb Plant to become the undisputed champion at 168.
Hearn spoke to Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs) about what his plans are after his match against IBF champ Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) on September 11th, and he said he’s interested in potentially taking on Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs).
When Hearn suggested that he face WBA 175-lb champion Dimitry Bivol first, Canelo told him that he wants Beterbiev. In other words, Canelo wants to challenge the #1 fighter in the 175-lb division first in Beterbiev.
It’s a daredevil move on Canelo’s part to face Beterbiev because he’s seen as the strongest puncher in the light heavyweight division, and he excels at fighting on the inside.
So all the inside work that Canelo likes to do, he would be doing it at his own peril against a devastating puncher like Beterbiev. The two-time Russian Olympian Beterbiev is a bigger, stronger version of Gennadiy Golovkin.
“Maybe after this [Caleb Plant] he’ll go to light-heavyweight, and he may fight Beterbiev and Bivol,” said Hearn to Little Giant Boxing about Canelo. “He doesn’t care. He told me about Beterbiev.
“I said, ‘shouldn’t we fight Bivol first?’ [Canelo stated] ‘No, we want him,'” making it clear that Alvarez wants Beterbiev.
The unbeaten Beterbiev called Canelo out after his recent 10th round knockout victory over Adam Deines last March. Beterbiev made it known that he will gladly accept the fight with the Mexican star if he’s given a call
Canelo is going to need a credible opponent to fight if he’s successful in defeating Caleb Plant on September 11th. If Alvarez doesn’t fight Beterbiev, the boxing public will expect for him to fight one of these guys:
- David Benavidez
- Gennadiy Golovkin
- Demetrius Andrade
- Jermall Charlo
Given the timidity that Charlo has shown in failing to accept the challenges made to him by Andrade and Benavidez, it would be a bad idea for Canelo to fight him.
It’s been three years since Canelo fought Golovkin, and it might be too late at this point for them to fight against. Golovkin is about to turn 40 in early 2022, and the boxing public won’t give Alvarez credit if he beats him now without controversy.
Canelo booted Andrade out of his recent post-fight press conference last May after winning over Billy Joe Saunders. However, Alvarez seemed disinterested to the extreme in taking on Andrade so that you can rule him out.
It’ll be surprising if Canelo takes this fight with Beterbiev because it’s a risky one for him. Beterbiev is a stronger puncher than Sergey Kovalev, and Canelo wouldn’t be able to count on him not unloading with full power.
There are still many questions boxing fans have about why Kovalev fought at what appeared to be one-quarter power against Canelo in their fight in 2019.
It almost looked like Kovalev was putting a fraction of his power into his shots against Canelo. Beterbiev would be going after Canelo at full throttle, looking to take him out with each shot.
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