Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is working on securing his next opponent.
Canelo traditionally fights just twice a year, on or close to the important holiday date of Cinco De Mayo and then again on or around September 16 for Mexican Independence Day.
His last fight was an easier-than-expected points win over the reticent Jermell Charlo in Las Vegas in September, and before that he had two further defences of his undisputed super middleweight crown against game Brit John Ryder and ageing Kazakh Gennadiy Golovkin.
That run of three wins followed a loss to Dmitry Bivol when stepping up in weight to challenge for the WBA light heavyweight title in May of 2022.
A report from ESPN Mexico now claims it has close sources who have drawn up a shortlist of possible opponents for the multi-weight champion to take on in the New Year.
“The name of Jaime Munguía is accompanied by Jermall Charlo and Terence Crawford as possible rivals for Canelo Álvarez in May, as revealed by sources close to ESPN KNOCKOUT. The figure of David Benavidez, who is the mandatory WBC challenger for Álvarez, would be scheduled for next September.”
For Munguia to be in the running, he will need to beat Ryder on January 27 in Phoenix, Arizona – something the tough Brit will be doing everything to halt.
Charlo recently made a ring return against Jose Benavidez Jr after two years of inactivity, and would likely have to vacate his WBC middleweight belt should he want the Canelo fight to avenge his twin brother’s loss.
The inclusion of Crawford is surprising given the Mexican has previously said the formerly undisputed welterweight champion is not in his current plans. The fight would mark a three-weight jump for ‘Bud.’
All of those names would represent satisfying matchups for Canelo. Former champion Shawn Porter believes it will be Charlo who gets the nod, though the one the boxing world pines for most is David Benavidez after he became the first man to stop Demetrius Andrade when they came to blows in November.