The 4 Best Opponents for Canelo Alvarez After Win vs. Jermell Charlo
Welcome back, everyone, to Canelo World.
Boxing's longest-running pay-per-view stalwart reascended his throne Saturday night in Las Vegas, toppling ambitious challenger Jermell Charlo by a near shutout at T-Mobile Arena.
Two judges gave him 10 of 12 rounds and the third judge had it 11-1.
It was a third straight victory and a third straight successful defense of a quartet of belts for the undisputed champion at 168 pounds, who's now 9-0 in the weight class and 60-2-2 since turning professional as a 15-year-old in 2005.
"Nobody can beat this Canelo," Alvarez said. "Nobody can beat me."
For Charlo, it was a losing conclusion to an ambitious experiment that saw him climb from his own undisputed status at 154 pounds after his twin brother, Jermall, a title claimant at 160 who'd been offered the fight with Alvarez, declined the opportunity.
The next chance to share a marquee with Alvarez is now up for grabs, with fighters residing anywhere from 147 to 175 pounds being talked about as a potential encore. The B/R combat team marked the occasion by taking a look at available options and compiling a list of who we think makes the most sense for the next time around.
Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the comments.
Jake Paul
1 of 4
So...you're saying there's a chance?
Though he'd long dismissed the idea of engaging social media agitator Jake Paul in a boxing ring, Alvarez nudged the door open in the days leading into the Charlo fight.
"Why not? I think it's good because other people who never watch boxing, they don't know anything about boxing. They wanna watch Jake Paul because he brings fans from other worlds, not boxing fans," he told the Full Send Podcast. "That's good, because everybody enjoy it. What they do, I think they do for business and you need to respect that."
As a fight, it'd be a mismatch. As an event, it'd be a can't-miss.
And don't suggest for a second you'd not watch, because we don't believe you.
Paul, for his sake, has long suggested he'd be up to the task.
"He's a killer at 168 pounds, but people forget that I naturally walk around at about 205, so there's a big weight difference. There's a big height advantage," he told Maxim's Tom Taylor in 2021. "Canelo hasn't fought someone who has really challenged him in the last couple of fights. They've all been easy guys who just sort of fall on their ass."
Dmitry Bivol
2 of 4
Let's be clear: If we're Canelo's managers, this fight never happens.
Based on 36 minutes of evidence from their initial get-together in May of 2022, it's highly unlikely Alvarez has the chops to topple the likes of Dmitry Bivol.
The unbeaten Russian light heavyweight is sublimely skilled and supremely confident, and the diversity of his toolbox was enough to school Alvarez across 12 rounds while winning a decision that was far less competitive than a trio of 115-113 scorecards would indicate.
Another year or more of age for a now-33-year-old won't change that.
But Canelo's a determined guy. And you don't get to his level of accomplishment by simply accepting the idea that a particular challenge cannot be met.
The rematch seemed imminent for a time before the sides determined they could not come to an agreement on the financial particulars. But now that Alvarez has strung together three straight wins since his second smudge, don't be surprised if the refusal to simply acknowledge another fighter as his superior returns.
Sign me up, says Bivol.
"I am interested in a unification fight at 168," he said on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.
Terence Crawford
3 of 4
When you've accomplished as much as Canelo Alvarez—namely titles at four weights, wins over multiple high-end foes and pay-per-view numbers that'd prompt drooling from anyone not named Mayweather—you can pretty much play by your own rules.
While others are bound by mandatory challengers and purse bids, he can fight anyone he wants anytime he wants by simply making a few swipes on his cellphone.
Which is why a name like Terence Crawford even comes into play.
The Nebraskan has wiped the slate clean from 135 pounds to 147 and struck an ambitious chord when he called Alvarez's name following a late July defeat of Errol Spence Jr. And Canelo gave the dream fight credibility when he told Manouk Akopyan he'd consider it.
"It's possible, why not? It's possible," he said. "If it makes sense, I'm down to do it. I don't care who is there. I'm always able to fight anybody."
And to ex-middleweight title challenger Billy Lyell, it's not a slam dunk in Alvarez's direction.
"[Crawford] might be strong enough to have a chance against Canelo, especially since Canelo has lost a step," Lyell told Bleacher Report. "I think it's a 50/50 chance because they are about the same height. Weight only matters to a large degree when a person is heavier and taller. I don't think weight plays nearly as big a role when they are the same height and reach."
David Benavidez
4 of 4
Alvarez is, as mentioned, a pristine 9-0 at 168 pounds.
And if super middleweight is the weight class in which he chooses to focus his full-time energy, there are precisely zero foes who make more sense than David Benavidez.
After all, the 26-year-old is 27-0 with 23 KOs, has twice been a WBC champion at 168, and will be that organization's mandatory contender through March.
He was last seen thrashing ex-Canelo foe Caleb Plant over 12 rounds in March, after which he renewed his claim to line-leader status when it comes to the next marquee opportunity.
But it's by no means a guarantee that he'll get it.
Perhaps not surprisingly because he's taller and longer than Alvarez and has an 85.19-percent KO rate that adds a legitimate element of danger.
And, lest anyone forget, neither of his two title reigns was ended by an opponent in the ring.
So if it happens, it's got the chance to be as good as it gets.
"The biggest fight at 168 is Canelo vs. David Benavidez," Sirius XM radio host and former Ring editor Randy Gordon told Bleacher Report. "While Canelo is still in his prime, he should go after that fight and stop hoping Benavidez goes away. That could easily be 2023's fight of the year."
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