By: Hans Themistode
Although Canelo Alvarez wants nothing more than to create history, he could be forced to travel down a familiar road instead.
As first reported by Lance Pugmire of The Athletic, DAZN officials have recently had a word with current IBF middleweight titlist and long-time rival of Alvarez in Gennadiy Golovkin. The topic of discussion between both sides was to get a clear understanding of whether or not the Kazakhstan star would be available for a fall showdown against Alvarez. Upon hearing the news, Golovkin reportedly replied that he is “ready, willing and available.”
At this time, it is unclear if Alvarez would be willing to move back down to 160 pounds, if Golovkin would be traveling eight pounds north or if both sides will settle upon a catchweight agreement.
As negotiations between team Alvarez and IBF super middleweight belt holder Caleb Plant continue to drag on, team Golovkin isn’t quite sure if there is serious interest in staging a third fight or if team Alvarez is using his name as a negotiating chip against team Plant.
Alvarez, 30, has shared the ring with Golovkin on two separate occasions. In September of 2017, Alvarez made his middleweight debut by challenging the former unified titlist. While most fans at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and those watching around the world believed Golovkin did more than enough to earn the win, he was forced to settle for a highly controversial split decision draw.
The two would face off once more one year later. This time, although their contest was extremely competitive, Alvarez eked out a majority decision win. Golovkin has since bounced back from his lone defeat, stopping two of his past three opponents. But while the Kazakhstan native has continued to campaign at 160, Alvarez has made frequent trips up and down the scale.
Following the win against Golovkin, Alvarez captured world titles at super middleweight against Rocky Fielding, Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders. The Mexican star also made a brief cameo appearance at 175, knocking out Sergey Kovalev to wrap his WBO light heavyweight title around his waist.
Currently, Alvarez is in possession of the WBA, WBC, WBO and Ring Magazine 168 pound titles. He’s since urged his team to negotiate a showdown against Plant, the weight division’s remaining belt holder. If Alvarez were to face Plant and pick up the win, he would become the first undisputed world champion at 168 pounds.
All along, Plant has been the preferred choice of Alvarez. However, if negotiations continue to stall, Golovkin appears to be waiting on standby.
