ARLINGTON, Texas — Canelo Alvarez hasn’t closed the door on facing his biggest rival one more time. On Thursday, Alvarez indicated he wasn’t opposed to facing Gennadiy Golovkin for a third fight after Alvarez finishes the current task of unifying the super middleweight division.
“The truth is, I’m open for anything,” Alvarez said through an interpreter two days before he faces Billy Joe Saunders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
The stipulation, however, is that Golovkin move up to the 168-pound division. Both of their previous fights have been at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds.
A potential third fight could seal a great trilogy between Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) and Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs).
In 2017, the two men fought to a very controversial draw that many observers believe Golovkin should have won. Alvarez won the rematch in a split decision. Golovkin has beaten every pro fighter he has faced except for Alvarez.
Throughout the buildup for this weekend’s bout against Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs), Alvarez has maintained that he wants to become the unified champion in the 168-pound division. The winner of Alvarez-Saunders will hold three of the four major belts. Caleb Plant has the other one.
Golovkin, 39, has repeatedly clamored for a third fight with Alvarez after the controversial decisions in their two previous bouts. Alvarez said Golovkin moving up one weight class must happen for the fight to be a possibility.
“Why wouldn’t he do it?” Alvarez said, citing the fact that he moved up from junior middleweight to middleweight to face Golovkin. Golovkin currently doesn’t have a bout scheduled.
While the Kazakh fighter appears to be Alvarez’s legacy-defining rival, the Mexican champion disagrees with the notion that their fights will be what most remember about Alvarez when he eventually retires.
“I’ve done a lot,” Alvarez said. “I’ve fought a lot of good fighters, a lot of champions. I’ve beat him, and I think that everything else will leave the legacy of my career.”