Saul "Canelo" Alvarez moved up to 168 pounds and took Rocky Fielding's WBA (regular) super middleweight title with ease Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, tenderizing the British boxer's midsection with a relentless barrage of body shots before being awarded the third-round TKO.
By winning his third division title in savage fashion, Alvarez opened up a new world of possibilities at super middleweight if he chooses to stay at 168. However, it's widely expected that Canelo will move back down to middleweight with several worthy contenders awaiting their shot. It's an impressive list: Daniel Jacobs, Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, Billy Joe Saunders and, of course, Gennady Golovkin, who has had two wars with Canelo.
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Given the lifespan of Alvarez's five-year, $365 million deal with the sports streaming service DAZN, one could argue that Canelo will face all these aforementioned fighters — and more — before that contract is up. And for what it's worth, that's exactly what Golden Boy's Oscar De La Hoya is saying too.
"Daniel Jacobs, BJ Saunders, the Charlo brothers ... they're all going to get it," De La Hoya told TMZ Sports last week. "It's not a problem. Canelo fights the best. That's it."
And regarding an imminent "GGG" trilogy fight, De La Hoya said, "Is he going to fight 'GGG' again? Yeah, whenever we say he's going to fight him again. We call the shots now. Canelo beat him, so if he's going to fight him, it's going to be when we say."
We know that the 28-year-old Alvarez (51-1-2, 35 KOs) will be back in action May 4 during Cinco de Mayo weekend, but who will he fight? Here are a few middleweight contenders waiting to get their shot at boxing's biggest star.
Daniel Jacobs (35-2, 29 KOs)
Earlier this week, De La Hoya announced that Canelo will fight May 4 in Las Vegas, but it won't be Jacobs or Golovkin facing him. Jacobs is clearly not trying to hear that — at all. Before Alvarez pummeled Fielding on Saturday night, "The Miracle Man" once again tried to lobby for a shot at the current face of boxing.
"I’m the perfect candidate [to fight Canelo]," Jacobs told DAZN’s Chris Mannix. "I’m a world champion now and that says a lot ...
“Let’s do this maybe Cinco de Mayo in Las Vegas.”
🗣 @DanielJacobsTKO to @SIChrisMannix: "I'm the perfect candidate (for @Canelo). I'm a champion." 🏆#CaneloRocky pic.twitter.com/NqIoRNgc7k
— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) December 16, 2018
Jacobs has been calling out Canelo for months now. Immediately following Alvarez’s win over "GGG" in September, Jacobs didn’t want to hear any talk about a trilogy between the heated rivals, saying he deserves a shot at the unified middleweight champion. He even vowed to knock Alvarez out. That was before Jacobs scored a split-decision victory over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October.
Following that win, Jacobs, 31, again made it clear that he wants his shot at Canelo. Jacobs’ late October win and Canelo’s December victory seemingly make the timing right for a Cinco de Mayo clash between the two. If it doesn’t happen then, it should later in 2019.
"The Miracle Man" would be a more than game challenge for Canelo. Plus, the incentive for Alvarez would be trying to add Jacobs’s IBF middleweight strap to his collection with an overall aim to become the division’s undisputed king.
Gennady Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs)
Most boxing journalists and fans alike think "GGG" won his first fight with Alvarez. Some even feel like he did enough to get the nod in the second. But regardless of where you stand with the split-draw ruling in their first clash or the majority decision in favor of Canelo in the rematch, Alvarez successfully walked Golovkin down this past September. And that has never happened to the former boogeyman of the middleweight division.
That calls for a trilogy. But with "GGG" turning 37 in April, this fight needs to happen sooner than later.
Jermall Charlo (27-0, 21 KOs)
Charlo, who’s fighting on Dec. 22, stands as the mandatory challenger for Canelo’s middleweight WBC title. But he’s not expecting the mandatory tag to cement the match with Alvarez at all, so Charlo upped the ante by recently telling Sky Sports that he’s willing to fight the face of boxing at any division — whether it be middleweight or super middleweight.
Hmm ... whether that allows him to skip the line remains to be seen.
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Demetrius Andrade (26-0, 16 KOs)
A southpaw like Andrade could present a matchup nightmare for Alvarez. He also has a height and reach advantage over the boxing kingpin. That could be part of the reason why we might see Jacobs, Golovkin or Charlo get a shot at Alvarez before Andrade.
But throughout his career, Canelo has showed a willingness to take on all fighters. Andrade’s WBO title is a missing piece of Canelo’s middleweight puzzle, so there’s incentive there, too.
Billy Joe Saunders (26-0, 12 KOs)
Like Andrade, Saunders is a southpaw, and he could create real problems for Canelo. But the British boxer did himself no favors by removing himself from a proposed Oct. 20 bout against Andrade after testing positive for the stimulant oxilofrine. He would seemingly need to build himself back up.
But then again, Saunders has shared some choice words for Canelo in the past. Perhaps Alvarez opts to make it two British opponents in a row.
Rob Brant (24-1, 16 KOs)
Brant pulled off the upset of Ryota Murata this past October via his unanimous decision victory to win the WBA (regular) middleweight title. That alone should at the least put him in the conversation for a possible fight with Canelo.
Whether he can come close to making the fight happen is another story entirely.
Jaime Munguia (31-0, 26 KOs)
The undefeated WBO junior middleweight champion is a hard-hitting fellow Mexican coming off a third-round TKO decimation of Brandon Cook on the undercard of Canelo-GGG II in September. Standing at 6-0 and only 22 years old, Munguia has the frame and youth to move up in weight aggressively, so fighting at 160 or 168 pounds shouldn’t be an issue.
What could be an issue, however, is Munguia also being a Golden Boy fighter. While his Jan. 26 fight with Takeshi Inoue would make for good timing for a May 4 clash with Canelo — barring a loss to Inoue — would Golden Boy be willing to put one of its most promising young fighters up against boxing's biggest star?
Munguia would have a lot to gain, and Canelo would have plenty to lose. But on paper, this is a fantastic fight.
