Who Will Step Up To Face Canelo Alvarez?
Everybody wants a piece of Canelo Alvarez. Golden Boy is looking to make the best matchups possible for its multi-million dollar man. According to several reports, a few of boxing’s top names are currently being discussed to clash with the middleweight king.
According to Mike Coppinger of The Athletic, there are talks for Canelo (53-1-2) to face off against Sergiy Derevyanchenko. The bout would be on September 14 and would most likely be a light-heavyweight fight. The two were supposed to face off not that long ago, as Derevyanchenko was the mandatory challenger for the IBF Middleweight Championship. Failing to come to terms on a bout, the IBF stripped Canelo of the title and had Derevyanchenko face Gennadiy Golovkin.
Derevyanchenko (13-2) has recently proven himself to be worthy of title opportunities against big-name opponents. Following a twelve-fight win streak, he impressed against Daniel Jacobs in October 2018 inside Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. Fighting for the IBF Middleweight Title, Derevyanchenko forced Jacobs to get back into the bout, and Jacobs ended up with a controversial split decision win.
After rebounding with a win over Jack Culcay, Derevyanchenko faced Golovkin last October for the IBF and IBO Middleweight Titles. In another fight where it looked like Derevyanchenko was about to pull off the win, Golovkin ended up winning via unanimous decision.
Golden Boy is also looking into Anthony Dirrell for Canelo, according to Boxing Scene. Dirrell (33-2-1) is a former WBC Super-Middleweight Champion. He lost the title and his undefeated streak against Badou Jack in 2015. “The Dog” then went on a six-fight win streak, beating Avni Yildirim for the WBC Super-Middleweight Title. His last bout was in September, losing the title to David Benavidez via TKO.
Canelo, who recently beat Sergey Kovalev for the WBO Light-heavyweight Title, was supposed to face WBO Super-Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders back in May. The coronavirus pandemic postponed those plans. Now, the British Boxing Board of Control is waiting on Saunders after taking away his license not that long ago.
Coppinger went on to report that Golovkin will not be involved in Canelo talks until at least early 2021. Golovkin previously stated that he would be focusing on facing Kamil Szeremeta first before a Canelo trilogy bout.
As far as when Canelo would fight, September no matter what is being rumored for his return. This could be either with or without a crowd to watch him compete.