Less than a month into 2022 and the Canelo Sweepstakes is already in full swing. Though Alvarez’s trainer Eddie Reynoso previously declared an interest in pitting his charge against WBC cruiserweight champ Ilunga Makabu, who defends his title this Saturday against Thabiso Mchunu, Mike Coppinger reports that Alvarez has received offers from both Al Haymon’s PBC and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing for his next outing(s).
PBC “extended a one-fight offer” for Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KO) to defend his undisputed super middleweight title against unbeaten WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KO) on Cinco de Mayo weekend.. Charlo, who’s fought just twice since 2019, has been more popular among 168-pounders than in his native division of late; David Benavidez has long wanted a crack at him, and I’m sure that “Hit Man” getting this fight would irk “El Bandera Roja” to no end.
Matchroom’s proposal would see Alvarez move up in weight to challenge Dmitry Bivol (19-0, 11 KO) for the WBA “super” light heavyweight title before facing Gennadiy Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KO) in a September 17th trilogy match at 168. Bivol hasn’t got anything pending, as he just finished cruising past Umar Salamov, while Golovkin is still waiting on a new date for his unification bout with Ryota Murata. If Top Rank and Teiken continue to insist on holding it in Japan, where skyrocketing COVID case numbers figure to keep travel restrictions in place for the foreseeable future, it may be a while.
As we’ve seen in Canelo Sweepstakes past, it ain’t over until both men are in the ring. What are y’all’s guesses as to who’ll get the call?