ESPN reported yesterday how “sources” had informed them with the news that Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez had agreed to a deal with DAZN, the two-fight deal to see the 31 year old pound-for-pound star face Dmitry Bivol in a light-heavyweight encounter on May 7, and then – providing Bivol does not score the upset, and providing Gennady Golovkin defeats Ryota Murata in their April fight – face GGG in a third fight on September 17, this at 168 pounds.
This is of course exciting news. Two potentially thrilling, testing fights, with Canelo, 57-1-2(39) further attempting to solidify his greatness; perhaps as Mexico’s greatest ever fighter. But can Canelo beat both Bivol and GGG? Can Golovkin beat Murata to set up the third and final fight with Canelo?
On paper, both Canelo and Golovkin are each expected to win their next fights, but paper be darned. Bivol, unbeaten at 19-0(11) and a mixture of a clever boxer and a tough and proud ring warrior, will not go quietly. Neither will Japanese banger Murata go quietly in his fight with GGG, set for the WBA middleweight champ’s home country.
It is entirely possible one, or both, stars actually loses his next fight. This would be a shame (for everyone other than Bivol and his supporters and Murata and his supporters), as we really do want to see Canelo Vs. Golovkin III – or maybe Golovkin’s name should go first, seeing how he won the first two fights he had with Canelo (this in the opinion of many fans, if not with the six judges that scored the two battles).
So does Canelo, an exceedingly rich man (all the more so due to the new two-fight deal) beat Bivol? Does the soon to be 40 year old GGG beat Murata? It’s going to be a whole lot of fun finding out. With the new Canelo deal, and with the number of other big fights that are either already in the history books here in 2022 or are set to come, this year could prove to be nothing short of massive for boxing fans.