Matchroom head Eddie Hearn believes that Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez could fight on December 17 in London against Craig Richards, Joshua Buatsi or John Ryder, or put on a homecoming show in Mexico.
Canelo has not fought in Mexico in a little over a decade, when he beat Kermit Cintron to retain his WBC junior middleweight belt in Mexico City. The undisputed super middleweight champion is yet to fight in the UK but there is mounting speculation that he could fight there as part of a world tour.
Should Canelo beat Dmitry Bivol, shown live on DAZN in most countries (check here), then that will tee up a September 17 clash with Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy rematch, predicted to be at 168lbs.
Hearn believes that Canelo could remain at that weight or return to light heavyweight.
“Well, we have the two mandatories,” Hearn explained, reported BoxingScene.com. “Like if he fights in England, which he wants to do, we have the two mandatories in the two divisions that he holds belts in. So, John Ryder at super middle and [Joshua] Buatsi fighting Craig Richards for an eliminator in the WBA.
“So, he could fight John Ryder, or he could fight Buatsi or Craig Richards, whoever wins that fight. Or, he could go to Mexico and have a huge fight in December.
“I don’t think that the December fight would be like a Beterbiev or anything like that. If he’s doing it at the end of the year, it’s more an experience. Like I think the next thing to do with Saul is to box him around the world. Like I would love to do a fight in Mexico. I think it would be incredible. I would also love to bring him to London. And I think he would really enjoy it.”
Artur Beterbiev is set to take on Joe Smith Jr. in June to decide who holds the IBF, WBC and WBO belts at light heavyweight, which would allow the winner of Canelo vs. Bivol to contest the undisputed title at a later date.
“They want me to set the fight now,” Hearn continued. “I mean, you know, when you go into a GGG fight on September 17th and talk about fighting December it’s quite incredible. You’d have to basically have a week off and start camp again after a GGG fight."