Not so fast. Though reports cane out of Japan last week saying a deal had been reached for superstar Canelo Alvarez to fight Ryoto Murata in Murata’s home country of Japan, on May 23, this is not the case.
As per a news story from Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, the talks fell apart, the exact reason or reasons not given, but Canelo will now likely fight on May 2, over the Cinco de Mayo celebrations, in Las Vegas. This was of course the original plan all along. Now, both Billy Joe Saunders and Callim Smith, each in the running to land the big fight, have fresh hope that they will get to face the Mexican star after all.
It’s up to Canelo who he fights, and he dies still aim to take a fight overseas at some point (and the sources Rafael got his ingo from say a fight with Murata could take place later on this year). But right now, Canelo is still to nail down his May 2 dance partner.
Whether Canemo drops back down to middleweight or to super middleweight also remains to be seen. But it appears as though the passionate Mexican fight fans will get the chance to travel to Las Vegas to cheer on their hero over the big party weekend that is Cinco de Mayo. Which is how it should be, after all.
Canelo has plenty of time in which to take his big show on the road. Of course Murata will be disappointed (for now, maybe), but Canelo has a duty to give his loyal fans a big event over “his weekend.” Vegas can expect a huge economic boost in early May.
Talks for a spring fight between middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and secondary titlist Ryota Murata in Murata's home country of Japan have ended, sources with knowledge of the discussions told ESPN. One source termed the talks as having "cratered."… https://t.co/bFSQCZeqdb
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) February 2, 2020