Saul "Canelo" Alvarez will venture up to light-heavyweight for the second time in his decorated career when he takes on WBA champion Dmitry Bivol in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 7.
Canelo’s first outing in the 175-pound division came in November 2019, when he knocked out Sergey Kovalev in the 11th round to claim the WBO title.
Since then, the pound-for-pound king has stepped back to super-middleweight and promptly cleaned out the division.
Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, and Caleb Plant were all undefeated champions when they faced Canelo (57-1-2) but he was victorious in each fight. He became the undisputed ruler at 168 pounds when he stopped then-IBF champion Plant in the penultimate session last time out.
MORE: Join DAZN to watch Canelo vs. Bivol
He has designs on emulating that feat in the higher weight class, telling TMZ last week: "I like the idea to be undisputed at 175. That's what I like, but you never know."
The Sporting News looks at the men who stand in the way of that ambition.
Dmitry Bivol - WBA champion
First things first, this weekend’s assignment certainty isn’t one for Canelo to be looking beyond. The California-based Russian boasts a perfect 19-0 professional record, with 11 of those wins coming inside the distance. His early career reputation as a knockout artist has waned somewhat since stepping up in class, with each of his past six bouts all going 12 rounds.
Nevertheless, Bivol is a technically excellent fighter who can set a pace to potentially trouble Canelo - not least by banking rounds and opening up an early advantage that might not be so easy for Alvarez to turn around when operating in a higher weight division.
MORE: Canelo Alvarez on light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol: 'For me, he's the best in the division'
Joe Smith - WBO champion
A couple of years ago, it looked like Smith’s career claim to fame would remain him being the final man to fight all-time great Bernard Hopkins and the only one to stop the veteran campaigner - knocking him out of the ring in their 2016 meeting. An increased profile brought big fights Smith’s way, although he lost two of his next three as he dropped unanimous decisions to Sullivan Barrera and Bivol.
The latter loss was his first tilt at a world title but he responded impressively with a statement knockout of former champion Eleider Alvarez. Smith did win the vacant WBO crown with a majority decision victory over Maxim Vlasov. Smith’s record stands at 28-3, with 22 KOs. It is a very solid resume but, on paper, probably the most beatable of the 175-pound champions for Canelo. However, before that bout is even a remote possibility, Smith must tackle arguably the most fearsome challenge in boxing today...
Artur Beterbiev - WBC & IBF champion
Russian KO machine Beterbiev is set to face Smith in a unification showdown at Madison Square Garden next month. The 37-year-old will be a strong favorite heading into the bout, having won all 17 of his professional contests inside the distance. Beterbiev possesses terrifying punching power and unified in October 2019 - decking the previously unbeaten Ukrainian Oleksandr Gvozdyk three times in the 10th round.
If Canelo is able to take care of business against Bivol, tick off a trilogy encounter with Gennadiy Golovkin, and possibly make his UK debut to close out 2022, then the fight with Beterbiev would be the obvious choice for a Cinco de Mayo fight next year. It would be the biggest fight in boxing and arguably Alvarez's most daunting test, although Beterbiev was put over during his four-round win against Callum Johnson in 2018. Team Canelo will hope his advancing years begin to show in the interim period.
