He may have light-heavyweight business to take care of first, but Canelo Alvarez says a third fight against Gennadiy Golovkin is “personal”.
The undisputed super-middleweight king announced his return to Matchroom and DAZN this past week and the three-fight deal kicks off with a fight at 175lbs. Alvarez will bid to become a two-time light-heavyweight champion when he challenges Dmitry Bivol for the WBA strap on May 7 at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.
“I chose Bivol because he’s a great fighter,” the Mexican said at last night’s Matchroom USA card in San Diego.
“He’s the best at 175. I just want to make history. He’s a really good fighter. He knows what to do in the ring. I know what kind of fighter he is, but I really don’t care. I’m in my prime, and I’ve got a lot of skills.”
A win and another title for the 31-year-old would then take him to a fight in September against his biggest rival Gennadiy Golovkin. While becoming undisputed at 175lb interests him Canelo has a chance to finally shut the door on ‘GGG’ when he moves back down to 168lbs to defend his four titles.
“I don’t know why now [is the time to face Golovkin again]. For me, it’s the best deal. I focus on Bivol,” said Canelo who then added, “Yeah, it’s personal. He talked a lot of shit about me, so he is going to pay.”
Golovkin has his own hurdle to overcome before moving up to 168lbs. The 39-year-old Kazakh will once again bid to unify the middleweight division on April 9 in Japan against Ryota Murata. Should Golovkin prevail then he will add the WBA title to the IBF belt he already owns.