Canelo Alvarez Targeting Dmitry Bivol Rematch in September; Open to Benavidez Fight

Ahead of his upcoming defense of his unified super middleweight titles, pound-for-pound boxing star Canelo Alvarez is already eyeing future opponents.

Alvarez, who is set to face WBO interim champion John Ryder on May 6, confirmed to reporters on Wednesday that he is planning for a rematch against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in September. He added that if he's not able to run it back against Bivol, he's open to facing super middleweight contender David Benavidez.

The interest from Alvarez in another shot at Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) should come as no surprise following his upset unanimous-decision loss last May, which was just the second defeat of his career. Alvarez (58-2, 39 KOs) expressed his desire for a rematch immediately after the loss, saying, "I don't feel like I lost the fight. ... Personally, I felt he only won four or five rounds. ... We want the rematch, and we're going to do better in the rematch."

However, Alvarez was then scheduled to face Gennady "GGG" Golovkin in a trilogy bout, which he won by unanimous decision in September. Bivol defended his title with a unanimous-decision victory over Gilberto Ramirez in November.

Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) is coming off the biggest win of his career, defeating Caleb Plant by unanimous decision this past Saturday in a main-event bout. After the victory, he called out Alvarez for a title shot.

"I have a lot of respect for Canelo Alvarez, but he has to give me that shot now," he said. "That's what everybody wants to see in September. ... I don't think he's trying to avoid me; I just believe he has a lot of options."

It will be interesting to see how all of this shakes out, but it's clear that there's no shortage of intriguing matchups for Alvarez at this stage in his legendary career.