Undisputed super middleweight champion of the world Canelo Alvarez has given a strong hint on what he has in mind about his much speculated third boxing match of the year. The Mexican superstar is already confirmed to face Dmitry Bivol and Gennadiy Golovkin in May and September respectively, and has now shown willingness to take on the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs Joe Smith Jr, a fight which is in the works for this summer.
First Bivol, then Beterbiev vs Smith winner- Canelo Alvarez’s path to undisputed championship at 175
2022 is set to be will be an active year for Canelo. The four-belt champion at 168 will be seen in action not two, but three times this year, with two out of the three fights having been confirmed already. First, Canelo will return to light heavyweight to take on WBA (Super) champ Dmitry Bivol on May 7th, followed by the highly anticipated trilogy bout against unified middleweight world champion Gennadiy Golovkin, which is targeted for September which will see Canelo defending his undisputed crown against his rival “GGG”.
However, there has been no concrete lead on which opponent will Canelo square off in his third fight, which is targeted for December. Eddie Hearn had initial talks about a cruiserweight clash against WBC champion Ilunga Makabu or former WBA interim super middleweight titleholder John Ryder, although there wasn’t much progress on talks regarding those options.
In the meantime, what seems to be the better path for Canelo, is to appear at 175 for the second time this year and take on the winner of unified WBC and IBF champion Artur Beterbiev vs WBO titleholder Joe Smith Jr, a fight which is planned for this summer and will crown the new, three belt champion at light heavyweight.
“Why not? We’ll see,” Canelo told ES NEWS after being asked about taking on Beterbiev vs Smith winner and becoming undisputed at 175.
Taking the Beterbiev vs Smith option is the most fruitful for Canelo, since it opens up the path towards the undisputed championship at 175, provided that Canelo wins his Bivol fight in May and clinches the WBA title, and then taking on either Beterbiev or Smith for the WBC, WBO and IBF titles to become a two division undisputed champ.
Highlights:
- Canelo Alvarez says he is willing to face the winner of Artur Beterbiev vs Joe Smith Jr as his third fight of the year in December
- The undisputed champion at 168 is set to face WBA (Super) light heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol in May
- Beterbiev and Smith are in the works for a fight in summer to unify the WBC, IBF and WBO titles at 175
