Canelo Waiting on Kovalev-Yarde

Despite all the drama and circumstances surrounding his next fight and promoters, Canelo Alvarez will not jump into a next opponent just yet.

Multiple sources tell Boxing Scene that Alvarez will wait to see the result of the August 24 Sergey Kovalev vs. Anthony Yarde WBO light heavyweight title bout before determining who he will face next. If Kovalev is successful, it’s expected Alvarez will still make his planned jump of two weight classes to challenge him.

Despite a postponement of Kovalev vs. Yarde already, and an inevitable order by the IBF for Alvarez to face a mandatory challenger, Alvarez and his team attempted to give Yarde step-aside money for a Canelo-Kovalev bout to take place.

Kovalev eventually decided he couldn’t change an opponent on less than two months’ notice — especially if it’d cost him a seven-digit payday — and Kovalev-Yarde was officially announced on July 12.

Meanwhile, Alvarez — the WBA (super) middleweight and (regular) super middleweight champion, as well as WBC Franchise champion — announced he would break his own tradition and not fight this coming Mexican Independence Day weekend.

Alvarez’s team at Golden Boy Promotions then turned its attention to an IBF mandate to face Sergey Derevyanchenko, But Golden Boy and Derevyanchenko’s promoter, Lou DiBella, were unable to come to terms on the mandatory challenger’s pay, and the IBF was forced to strip Alvarez of its middleweight title. These failed negotiations and subsequent stripping gave Alvarez anger and disappointment towards his promoter.

The IBF then ordered the title on the line when Derevyanchenko meets former unified heavyweight champ Gennadiy Golovkin on Oct. 5. Ironically, this is the same title stripped from GGG when he refused to face Derevyanchenko last year in favor of a rematch with Alvarez. The IBF then ordered Derevyanchenko to face Daniel Jacobs for the vacant title, which would be won by Jacobs, who would later drop the belt to Alvarez.

An official announcement for GGG vs. Derevyanchenko is expected later this week.

DAZN executive chairman John Skipper is expected to schedule Alvarez’s return for November in order to space out time between GGG and Alvarez’s next bouts. In the case of a Canelo-Kovalev bout, a November date would also give Kovalev some rest time should he get through Yarde.

Kovalev and GGG, as well as WBO middleweight champ Demetrius Andrade, are on a list of opponents approved by DAZN for Alvarez’s next bout. Negotiations between Alvarez and Andrade’s teams have not progressed, and Alvarez has stated he refuses to give GGG a trilogy bout.

Original Story: Boxing Scene