Russian fighter Artur Beterbiev wants to fight Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez next after defeating Germany’s Adam Deines.
Beterbiev defeated Deines in ten rounds but sent his opponent to the canvas in the first round, and made it 16 knockouts after 16 fights so far.
Beterbiev unified the WBC and IBF belts in October 2019 when he beat Oleksandr Gvozdyk, but now wants to fight for the WBO belt.
That will be contested by Joe Smith and Maxim Vlasov in April, and he also hopes to take on the winner of Dmitry Bivol - the current WBA champion - and Craig Richards, who fight in May.
"Yes, we are interested in a unification fight for one of the titles. It does not matter against whom. Either it will be the winner of the Bivol-Richards fight, or the winner of the Vlasov-Smith fight," admitted Beterbiev's trainer, Marc Ramsey after the fight.
However, Beterbiev said he would like to fight Canelo if he comes back to 175lbs, though the Mexican is currently in pursuit of becoming the undisputed super middleweight champion, and is next expected to fight Billy Joe Saunders on May 8 before eventually fighting for the IBF belt, held by American fighter Caleb Plant.
"Canelo is a cool boxer, I like him. It will not be an obstacle to enter the ring with him if there is an offer. I would gladly fight," Beterbiev said.