Canelo Alvarez would like to face IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant in September for the undisputed championship. Still, he could move up to 175 to challenge IBF/WBC champion Artur Beterbiev if he cannot negotiate with Caleb.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn says the first option for WBA/WBC/WBO 168lb champion Canelo is for him to attempt to make the fight with Plant (21-0, 12 KOs).
Unfortunately, that fight may prove impossible to make if Plant and his management and PBC price him out or make Canelo jump through too many hoops to make the fight, which isn’t a one that the boxing public is eager to see.
“We want to make a call probably next week on the fight that Canelo will take in September,” said Eddie Hearn to the DAZN Boxing Show.
“If we can’t get the Caleb Plant fight, obviously, we need another dance partner for September. He’s [Canelo] not going to go back to 160 ever.
“So his choices to defend these championships are 168. But I think he just prefers to take on champions.
” But Artur Beterbiev, Canelo talks about that, but he knows how hard Beterbiev punches, and Canelo’s a competitor,” Hearn continued.
“Now you tell him that’s not the fight to take. You want to take it? You tell him that’s a dangerous fight? He’ll want to do it. It’s very, very risky moving up to 175,” said Hearn.
“You know, you have Joe Smith, you have Dmitry Bivol, and you have Artur Beterbiev,” Hearn continued.
“Dmitry Bivol is probably the easiest fight to make because he works with us,” said Hearn.
WBA 175-lb champion Bivol’s recent abysmal performance against fringe contender Craig Richards was feeble to the point where he’s not worth much for Canelo to fight him.
Bivol looked afraid the entire fight against Richards, and he completely fell apart during the championship rounds of that fight. Bivol won because Richards was showing him too much respect in the first half of the contest.
It’s good that Hearn promotes Bivol, but it’s improbable that Canelo will face him in September if he can’t get the fight with Plant negotiated successfully.
Well, it’s going to be risky for Canelo Alvarez if he stays at 168 and winds up having to face the dangerous David Benavidez next.
If Hearn is unable to negotiate a fight with Caleb Plant due to him pricing himself out of the contest, Canelo will have a tremendous amount of pressure from boxing fans to fight former two-time WBC 168-lb champion Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs).
The 24-year-old Benavidez is easily the best fighter at 168 besides Canelo, and he’s someone that can do a lot of damage with his power, size, and his youth.
Besides Benavidez, boxing fans would like to see Canelo face Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs), but he’s unwilling to come up to 168. Even for a fight against Canelo, Charlo hasn’t shown a desire to come up in weight to fight him at 168.
He’s under the illusion that Canelo will return to the 160-lb division, or maybe he could fight him at a catchweight. Canelo isn’t going to agree to either of those things. So, Charlo is not an option.
Gennadiy Golovkin, 39, has lost a lot of popularity since his defeat to Canelo in 2018. At this point, it’s not worth it for Canelo to fight GGG because he’s gotten old and he’s no longer fighting elite opposition.
Moreover, Golovkin isn’t showing the motivation to fight the elite fighters any longer. That’s arguably why Golovkin has lost popularity in the last three years. Since his defeat to Canelo in 2018, Golovkin has fought these guys:
- Steve Rolls
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko
- Kamil Szeremeta
And Sergiy Dervanchenko beat him!