By: Hans Themistode
Canelo Alvarez is a wanted man.
As first reported by Mike Coppinger of ESPN, Alvarez was offered a one-fight deal from PBC’s Al Haymon that would see him take on WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo on May 7th, Cinco De Mayo weekend.
In addition to that offer, rival promoter Eddie Hearn is offering Alvarez a two-fight deal. The first fight of said deal would be against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol. Provided Alvarez escaped from their contest victoriously, the Mexican star would then face off against long-time rival Gennadiy Golovkin.
While both promoters would love a response sooner rather than later, Alvarez can seemingly take his time before making his decision. Following a wildly successful 2021 which saw the pound-for-pound star enter the ring on three separate occasions and capture every world title at 168 pounds, Alvarez revealed that his robust 2021 schedule had taken its toll on him. As a result, the Mexican product revealed that he would likely sit out until early May.
In Charlo, the truculent 160 pound titlist has craved a showdown with boxing’s biggest star for a number of years. In his lone appearance in 2021, Charlo defeated a tougher than expected Juan Macias Montiel. Although the Houstonian has proudly defended his WBC middleweight title on four separate occasions, he’s stated on numerous occasions that he would have no issue with moving up in weight to face Alvarez.
Much like Charlo, Bivol has also expressed a desire to face Alvarez. Though he campaigns at 175 pounds, Alvarez was once a light heavyweight titleholder following his 11th round stoppage win over former WBO champion Sergey Kovalev in 2019.
The Russian native has recently ended his inactive spell in 2021, winning back-to-back contests against Craigs Richards and Umar Salamov.
Despite both Charlo and Bivol’s eagerness to face Alvarez, Golovkin knows good and well what it feels like to share the ring with the Mexican star.
In September of 2017, both Alvarez and Golovkin engaged in a back and forth war. While their contest produced fireworks, their split decision draw left neither man satisfied. One year later, Alvarez would eke out a close and controversial majority win.
At the age of 39, Golovkin appears to be on the downside of his career. Still, the future Hall of Famer has reeled off two consecutive victories against Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Kamil Szeremeta.
The current IBF middleweight titlist is now patiently waiting on a future date against WBA champion Ryota Murata. The two were originally scheduled to face off in late December in 2021 but were forced to scrap those plans due to the travel ban that was implemented in Murata’s native land of Japan. According to promoter Eddie Hearn, he expects them to square off at some point in the first half of this year.