By: Hans Themistode
Canelo Alvarez can run, but he certainly can’t hide. That was the gist of what Ronnie Shields, head trainer for WBC middleweight titlist Jermall Charlo, wanted to get across.
For years now, team Charlo placed a target on the back of Alvarez. The two division titlist called for a showdown with the red haired pound for pound star when the two campaigned at 154 pounds, and again once the surly Houston native moved up to 160 pounds in 2017.
Yet, Alvarez has paid him no mind. Electing to grab his pogo stick as he jumped around from weight class to weight class. At the moment, the Mexican native has seemingly settled into the super middleweight division after a successful run at light heavyweight.
While Charlo hasn’t exactly expressed a desire to jump up in weight, Shields did say that they would make an exception.
“We could fight him at 168, we could fight him at 175,” Shields said to Boxingscene.com. “Wherever he wanna fight, we could fight. It shouldn’t be no problem.”
For the fans of Alvarez, they would settle for simply seeing their man in a sparring match at this point. The normally active four division champion has been away from the ring for the entirety of the year for various reasons.
For one, the global pandemic that has wrapped its diseases ridden hands around the world has canceled numerous return dates that he had in mind. Secondly, and most importantly, Alvarez is currently entangled in a messy legal battle with promoter Oscar De La Hoya and streaming company DAZN.
A happy ending doesn’t appear to be on the horizon, but Shields is hoping that they can sweep their issues under the rug and give the fans what they want to see.
“I know Canelo’s going through some things right now with DAZN and with Oscar [De La Hoya]. Maybe if they get their situation together, they can call Al [Haymon] and we could make the fight. That’s probably the fight that makes the most sense for Canelo. I think for Canelo that makes the most sense, and for Jermall.”
The last time Charlo entered the ring, he was dominating perpetual middleweight contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Many were expecting to see him either struggle mightily or flat out lose. None of those thoughts came true as he pitched a near shutout.
A matchup with Alvarez would be an even higher level of competition for Charlo. But for Shields, he’s seen enough in his man to know that he is more than capable of stepping up to the plate.
“It’s a tough fight,” Shields said. “Canelo is a great fighter. But again, Jermall rises up to the competition. It would be a great fight. It’d be a fight that fans would definitely wanna see. And that fight needs to be made.”