Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez has been offered a route to becoming a five-weight world champion.
The Mexican superstar is currently undisputed at super middleweight, but has punctuated that stint with moves up to light heavyweight.
First that was a successful challenge against Sergey Kovalev – Canelo KO in the eleventh – to win the WBO World title. His second move to 175lbs wasn’t so good, as Dmitry Bivol handed him his first loss in almost a decade.
Whilst he tries to make the rematch with Bivol happen, talk has returned to a potential further jump to cruiserweight.
He was previously building up a fight with then WBC 200lbs Champion, Ilunga Makabu, with the sanctioning body approving Canelo’s request to make the challenge and even hosting a face-off between the pair at its annual conference.
Makabu has since lost his belt to Badou Jack, and the Saudi Arabia based 39-year-old spoke to Boxing King Media about a potential fight with the Mexican.
“Absolutely [it would interest me.] He’s one of the biggest names, and he said he wanted to fight Makabu before he fought Bivol. I’m smaller than Makabu, so he can come see me if he wants to.”
It’s a good shout for Canelo, especially given the WBC’s previous facilitation of his goals. He’s made it clear that this stage of his career is all about legacy, and adding another weight to his championship run would only help that.
In the minds of fans though, there are currently two high-priority fights out there for him following his unanimous decision over John Ryder: a rematch with Bivol – which has encountered problems around the weight – or a title defence against former super-middle champion, David Benavidez.