Canelo Still Open To Fighting Uysk At Catchweight: ‘It’s Difficult, But…I Like That Kind of Challenge’

Canelo Alvarez evidently has not lost interest in a potential catchweight bout with unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.

The Mexican superstar suggested earlier this year, in May, ahead of his light heavyweight title fight with Dmitry Bivol, that he would welcome a fight with the Ukrainian, albeit at a catchweight of 201 pounds.

Alvarez, who is currently the undisputed 168-pound champion, fights several divisions below Usyk, a former undisputed champion at cruiserweight who has been campaigning at heavyweight for his last several fights. Usyk weighed in the low 220s for his most recent fight, his heavyweight rematch against Anthony Joshua in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which Usyk won by split decision to retain his WBO, WBA, IBO and IBF titles. There is also a substantial height difference between the two; Alvarez is 5-foot-7½, while Usyk stands 6-foot-3.

Despite the size difference and his loss to Bivol in the intervening period, Alvarez recently affirmed that he is still open to the idea of facing Usyk.

“It’s difficult, but I don’t care,” Alvarez told Fighthype when asked of a potential fight with Usyk. “I like that kind of challenge.”

“It’s going to be difficult, I know, but I love boxing,” Alvarez added. “I love being in that kind of situation.”

Admittedly, few fighters in recent memory who are Alvarez’s size have ever won a heavyweight title. Roy Jones Jr., who started out as a middleweight, earned a heavyweight title in 2003 with a victory over John Ruiz.

Moreover, Alvarez still has plenty of challenges in his current weight class. Alvarez is currently preparing to defend his WBA, WBO, WBC, and IBF 168-pound titles in a trilogy fight with Gennadiy Golovkin Sept. 17 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Alvarez also has repeatedly voiced his desire to face Bivol in a rematch, possibly next spring, although Alvarez recently stated that he would only be interested in that if Bivol comes out victorious in his next fight against his mandatory challenger Gilberto Ramirez in their scheduled Nov. 5 title fight in Abu Dhabi.