By Dan Ambrose: Trainer/manager Eddy Reynoso reported on Monday that Canelo Alvarez is NOT in negotiations with any fighter or promoter for his next fight. Reynoso says they’ll have an update next week on Canelo’s next fight.
Last weekend, ESPN’s Mike Coppinger said that talks were underway for a fight between Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) and Jermall Charlo for Cinco de Mayo weekend on May 7th.
However, that information now appears to be false, given that Reynoso said there had been no talks with any rival.
“Good afternoon! Regarding the next fight of Canelo. There is no negotiation with any promoter, or rival, or date. Next week we will have something concrete,” said Reynoso on his Twitter earlier on Monday.
This is disappointing news for the fans that were hoping that Canelo would face the unbeaten Jermall, but that match never had any chance of happening.
Canelo has NEVER shown interest in fighting Charlo, who is dangerous, and far more talented than the weak opposition that the Mexican star has been routinely beating in the deserted wasteland of the 168-lb division.
Reynoso didn’t give any hints to the boxing fans about who Canelo might be facing next. But it appears they’re going to stick with their original plan of moving up to cruiserweight to fight WBC champion Ilunga Makabu.
The way that Canelo and Makabu were buddy-buddy with each other at the WBC convention, it’s quite possible their fight will play out similarly to Alvarez’s fight against Sergey Kovalev in 2019.
That fight, if you want to call it that, was like a sparring session. Kovalev appeared to be fighting in first gear the entire night and throwing shots with weak power.
It was a VERY strange fight. It was disturbing to watch because Kovalev looked like another person in there with Canelo. It wasn’t the same Kovalev we’d seen in his previous fight against Anthony Yarde or in ANY of his fights in the past.
Some boxing fans believe Kovalev intentionally took it easy on Canelo out of gratitude for him giving him the payday.
Fans don’t want to see Canelo fight Makabu, but he’s likely not listening to what they want. In other words, Canelo is doing what he wants, and it appears the Makabu fight is the one he’s focusing on.
If Canelo and Reynoso weren’t 100% dialed into the fight with the 34-year-old twice beaten Makabu, they wouldn’t have gone through the trouble to attend the WBC’s recent convention to let the sanctioning body their plans to move up to cruiserweight for this fight.
That’s an easy fight for Canelo because Makabu is flawed and an easy mark for him to capture his fifth division world title. Canelo is not about to fight Jermall Charlo because that guy has talent, and he’s not facing quality guys anymore.
Canelo stopped fighting elite-level opposition four years ago after having a bad experience against Gennady Golovkin. The only guys Canelo fights nowadays are fighters that essentially have no chance of beating him.
These Canelo’s fights in the last four years:
- Rocky Fielding – WBA secondary 168
- Billy Joe Saunders – WBO 168
- Avni Yildirim – *ex-sparring partner
- Sergey Kovalev – WBO 175
- Caleb Plant – IBF 168
- Callum Smith – WBA 168
Those are fighters that arguably most of the top 5 at 168 would beat with ease in one-sided fights.
Well, it’s not all that surprising to this writer that Canelo isn’t in negotiations for a fight with the unbeaten Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs) because it’s a move that goes against the grain of the kind of opposition the Mexican fighter has been facing since his rematch with Golovkin in 2018.
Since Alvarez’s second fight with GGG in 2018, which many boxing fans had him losing, he’s faced mainly soft touches in the form of paper champions from Great Britain, ex-sparring partners, and old guys.
If Canelo doesn’t fight Makabu, you can expect him to face the winner of the February 12th fight between John Ryder and Daniel Jacobs. That’s this writer’s prediction.
Nevertheless, you can fully expect Canelo to take the fight with Makabu because it’s too much of an easy money fight for him.
You can’t understate how interested Canelo is in capturing division world titles at this stage of his career, and he’ll never get a better opportunity than this to capture his fifth title.
Yeah, it’s an entirely pointless endeavor that won’t impress the boxing public of this generation or any future generation, but that’s what he believes.
Canelo’s popularity allows him to put together fights against champions like Makabu. Ordinary fighters who would likely beat the brakes off Makabu would never get a chance to fight him because they’re not famous like Canelo.