Canelo Alvarez Next Fight: Latest Comments, Speculation After Amir Khan Knockout
Saul Alvarez is the face of boxing's future, as he showed on Saturday with a decisive, emphatic knockout win over Amir Khan. The 25-year-old moved into the ranks of must-see fighters when he stood toe to toe with Floyd Mayweather, ultimately losing a majority decision in 2013.
With Mayweather retired, at least for now, and Manny Pacquiao also stepping away, Alvarez is the one who will be headlining major shows and selling a lot of pay-per-view events.
Following his victory, Alvarez said in the ring that he was biding his time against Khan before finding the right time to strike, per USA Today's Mike Coppinger: “Like I said from the beginning, I knew he was very fast and knew it would be competitive in the beginning. But I knew time would come to my favor, and you saw that.”
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Now that Alvarez has taken care of business with Khan, boxing's biggest young star can look to the future and his next opponent.
Here are the best options for Alvarez to choose from.
Gennady Golovkin
The most logical next step for Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin is to finally square off some time this fall.
ESPN's Dan Rafael reported last December that promoters for Alvarez and Golovkin agreed to have both fighters take interim bouts this spring before setting up a match between the two for September.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told Rafael why it is important for boxing to make sure that Canelo and Golovkin eventually fight:
"Canelo versus GGG is one of the most important events in the sport of boxing, and their promotional companies and partners have been communicating openly and in good faith. The ultimate goal of all involved is to make certain that the best conditions are secured for their fighters and the boxing world, and to preserve their full commitment to abide by, and respect, the governing WBC rules and regulations.
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Rafael even went so far as to say that Alvarez vs. Golovkin would be "the biggest fight in boxing," though he did add that it is barring some kind of rematch between Pacquiao and Mayweather.
Canelo did sound like he was starting to have second thoughts about a matchup with Golovkin leading up to his bout with Khan.
Per Andreas Hale of Ring TV, Alvarez said he's "a 154 pounder and that’s where I feel comfortable." He also noted that Golovkin's resume doesn't stack up to his, meaning GGG "needs to work his way up and earn that shot.”
However, per Coppinger, Alvarez did say Saturday that he wants to fight Golovkin: “I’ll fight him right now. Let’s put the gloves on and get in there with him.”
Golovkin did his interim bout, making quick and easy work of a clearly overmatched Dominic Wade on April 23 with a second-round knockout. He wasted no time throwing down the challenge to Alvarez on social media after Saturday's match with Khan:
Even Khan knows what Alvarez's next fight should be after getting his clock cleaned, per Bloody Elbow:
Alvarez took care of his business against Khan, so there are no more excuses to be made. Canelo vs. GGG is the fight boxing needs, fans want to see it and there is no logical next step for either champion in 2016.
David Lemieux
If Alvarez had problems with Golovkin's resume, it would be curious for him to take a fight against David Lemieux next. The Canadian star lost to GGG by technical knockout last October in the eighth round.
Lemieux did get his career back on track Saturday night, on the Alvarez-Khan card, by knocking out Glen Tapia in the fourth round. If you're going to make a statement to a potential opponent, no better place to do it than at the event he is headlining.
ESPN's Brian Campbell did note that a potential Lemieux-Alvarez bout would not be a bad idea:
However, there could be a potential snag in making a fight with Lemieux and Alvarez happen. Here's what Lemieux told USA Today's Bob Velin about the possibility of fighting Canelo: “David Lemieux likes to fight everybody. So Canelo Alvarez at middleweight, at 160—not at 155 but at 160—would definitely be something I’m very interested in, of course.”
Yes, Lemieux did refer to himself in the third person. The more pressing part of that quote, though, is he wants to dictate the weight they fight at. As referenced in the previous section, Alvarez only likes to fight at 154 pounds.
If Lemieux is going to get a fight with Alvarez, he will not be able to set terms in the contract. Alvarez is the drawing card, he will be getting the bulk of revenue from the fight and can say when/where it is going to happen.
Floyd Mayweather
I will say up front that I don't believe Mayweather and Alvarez actually will fight a second time. Mayweather is not one to go backward after clearly beating an opponent, though he did give Marcos Maidana an immediate rematch in 2014 after "only" winning the first bout by majority decision.
But the seeds for a potential second match have been planted by Alvarez's camp last November, per Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times:
Mayweather did not take the bait from Oscar De La Hoya, offering this response, per Ben Thompson of FightHype.com:
"Canelo, you a good fighter, but you already know what it is when you face me, boy. Class is in session! I faced Canelo, [Miguel] Cotto, and [Manny] Pacquiao, and I know who's the best out of the three. I know how they all rate, and I know something all three of them guys got in common.
They got their ass whooped by me. So this is for everybody that's always speaking about my accomplishments and everything that I've done. When the history books is written and when we're all gone, there's only going to be one m----------n' name that they're talking about and that's Floyd 'Money' Mayweather!
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The only reason for Mayweather to take a rematch with Alvarez would be money. Their first showdown in September 2013 was the highest-grossing pay-per-view fight until the Mayweather-Pacquiao match in May 2015.
Alvarez is a different fighter than the one Mayweather stepped into the ring against nearly three years ago. He's more well-rounded, stronger and faster than ever before. He's better equipped to hand Mayweather the first loss of his storied career.
Mayweather certainly likes money, but the one thing he cares more about is that zero in the loss column next to his name. If he returns to fight anyone at this point in his life, he will not be doing it against a 25-year-old star just hitting his peak.
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