Canelo Alvarez more and more likely to face Smith or Saunders
It looks as if Canelo Alvarez is taking the first steps in finding an opponent other than Ryota Murata for a fight in early May.
Eddie Hearn, of Matchroom Boxing, says Alvarez’s management has had minor discussions about Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders. It’s a further sign that talks for an Alvarez-Murata fight in Japan on May 2, the Saturday before Cinco de Mayo, have fallen apart.
“It’s really going to come down to who Canelo Alvarez chooses,’’ Hearn told iFL TV. “There’s been minor conversations about both fighters, and they’re both aware of that.
“I think, there’s a long way to go to making a deal. But I do believe: Who else are they going to choose?’’
Both Smith and Saunders hold super middleweight titles. Alvarez, still the reigning middleweight champion, would defend his 160-pound belts against Murata. But there’s speculation that Canelo would struggle to get back down to 160 after fighting at 175 pounds in a 10th-round stoppage of Sergey Kovalev on Nov. 2 in Las Vegas. Canelo relinquished the light heavyweight belt he took from Kovalev.
Canelo presumably could get down to 168 than 160. From Hearns’ perspective, that means either Smith or Saunders. Also, a deal with either would be easy to do. Both Smith and Saunders are tied to DAZN, which signed Canelo to a $365-million contract in October 2018. However, Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya has said there’s no interest in Saunders.
“Ultimately, as I’ve said, Canelo is the boss and Canelo will choose,’’ Hearn said. “But Billy and Callum are desperate for this fight.’’