Will Canelo Alvarez fight Jermall Charlo?

By Boxing News - 01/11/2022 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Trainer/manager Eddy Reynoso said on Monday that Canelo Alvarez isn’t in talks for a fight with anyone at the moment for his next fight. This comes after reports from ESPN stating that Canelo is expected to fight Jermall Charlo next instead of WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu.

In Reynoso’s case, it’s unknown if he’s intentionally keeping the negotiations secret for Canelo’s next fight or if he isn’t in talks with the unbeaten Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs).

“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 Eddy Reynoso on Twitter on Monday.

Reynoso and Canelo had to have noted the interest from fans in him fighting Jermall next. How could they not have noticed fans’ enthusiasm for the Charlo fight?

Fans want Canelo to fight Jermall Charlo

Even if Canelo wasn’t in negotiations with Charlo, seeing the fans’ fascination for this fight should motivate Alvarez and Reynoso to put this match together.

For them to turn back to their original idea of facing the obscure twice-beaten WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu, it would be a foolish move on their part.

The World Boxing Council has already given Canelo the greenlight to freeze his WBC 168-lb title and move up to cruiserweight to challenge WBC champion Makabu on May 7th.

Image: Will Canelo Alvarez fight Jermall Charlo?

Fans have criticized Canelo steadily ever since they discovered his plans on fighting the 34-year-old Makabu because they were hoping he would fight one of these fighters:

  • David Benavidez
  • Artur Beterbiev
  • Dmitry Bivol
  • Demetrius Andrade
  • Jermall Charlo
  • Gennady Golovkin
  • David Morrell Jr.

Makabu isn’t one of the fighters that the boxing public has been pushing for Canelo to fight after watching him use up the last four years of his career fighting these run-of-the-mill guys:

  • Billy Joe Saunders
  • Callum Smit
  • Rocky Fielding
  • Avni Yildirim
  • Caleb Plant

If Canelo isn’t going to fight Charlo, Reynoso had better make sure that he faces someone the fans want to see if he doesn’t want to deal with a tremendous backlash from the boxing public.

It was bad enough that Canelo burned through the last three years using the excuse of unifying the 168-lb division to take the heat off him for fighting paper champions one after another since 2018.

With ESPN giving fans hope by reporting that Canelo is in talks for a fight with Jermall Charlo, it got a lot of people excited about the contest.

Finally, after four years, Canelo was going to face a gifted opponent with a chance of beating him. However, with Reynoso saying, “there is no negotiation with any promoter or rival,” he’s torn away from the hope that fans had that Canelo will fight someone worth watching for the first time since 2018.

Image: Will Canelo Alvarez fight Jermall Charlo?

What fans are now expecting is that Canelo will go ahead with his previous plans in going up in weight to challenge Makabu on May 7th in what would be the ultimate cherry-pick on his part.

No interest in Makabu fight

If Reynoso and Canelo go ahead with the fight with Makabu, it would all but confirm in the minds of boxing fans that the Mexican star is just going to be padding his record with weak opposition until he retires in three to five years.

All fans know is they want to see Canelo face the talented WBC middleweight champion Jermall, as they’re fed up with watching him pick weak belt-holders from Europe and American fighters with limited skills & power.

If Canelo isn’t going to fight Charlo, he needs to face someone that the fans want him to rather than heading a career to face Makabu next May.