Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez quickly dismissed a press conference-crashing Demetrius Andrade, telling the WBO middleweight champion unceremoniously to “get the f—k out of here,” before calling him a “horrible fighter” several times.
However, during the same May 8 press conference, camp Canelo left the door open to possible showdowns with IBF middleweight champion and longtime rival Gennadiy Golovkin and WBC middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo.
“They have to wait their turn,” Alvarez’s trainer Eddy Reynoso said of GGG and Charlo when their names were broached fresh off of Canelo’s victory over Billy Joe Saunders.
That brief statement was more than enough to grab Charlo’s attention. Charlo is fully focused on defending the WBC title against Juan Macias Montiel on June 19, but he desires to let it be known that he wants all the smoke with Canelo — whether at middleweight, moving up to meet the boxing superstar at 168 pounds or a catchweight in between.
“I’m down. I’ll fight Canelo,” Charlo told DAZN News over the phone Tuesday afternoon following his press conference in Houston, where he came face-to-face with Montiel.
“Right now, that’s what everybody keeps talking about — ‘Canelo, Canelo, Canelo,’” Charlo continued. “Well, s—t, where he at? I’m here. I got the WBC [title]. What are we going to do?
“We could unify,” he added. “We could go to a catchweight, fight 10 rounds. I’m down to do whatever they want to do. I’m a boxer, I’m a man at the end of the day. So, Canelo can get that work, too.”
Charlo, who turns 31 on Wednesday, is well aware of Canelo’s penchant of demolishing undefeated champions during this current tear through the super middleweight division. After all, Canelo thoroughly battered Callum Smith with punishing body shots en route to a dominating unanimous decision to hand the British fighter his first pro loss and take his WBA (Super) and The Ring titles in December.
Canelo followed that by launching a pristine right uppercut to fracture Saunders’ eye socket in the eight round of their Cinco de Mayo weekend fight, with the British fighter opting to not get off his stool for the ninth. That victory put the first blemish on Saunders’ record (30-1) and added the WBO super middleweight title to Canelo’s hardware.
Now, Canelo will look to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion in boxing history by facing another undefeated champion — IBF titleholder Caleb Plant (21-0, 12 KOs). The fight hasn’t been booked as of press time, but given the Mexican's very clear mission statement it is surely top of his list.
Charlo (31-0, 22 KOs) claims to understand how Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs) was able to make those fighters’ 0s go, but believes that he owns all the attributes to will a different outcome into existence if given the opportunity to clash with the current face of boxing.
“He’s got an ugly style and he’s strong with the little ugly style he has,” Charlo offered about Canelo’s boxing. “My style is pretty, my style is neat and my style is stronger, so we’ll see how it matches up.”
If the bout were to come to fruition, Charlo would step into the ring with a three-inch height advantage and three inches of reach over Alvarez. With snap to his punch, power and smooth head and body movement, Charlo could present a complex puzzle for Canelo to solve should the Mexican superstar tab the Houston resident for a mega bout down the line.
Prior to the victory over Saunders, Canelo even told DAZN News that “we’ll see” regarding a super fight with unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., who walks around at middleweight, so there are plenty of options. There's also former super middleweight champ David Benavidez looming. But any option of the sort would only be weighed if Canelo becomes the undisputed king at 168 pounds first.
Charlo still more than willing to fight Gennadiy Golovkin
If Canelo accomplishes that feat and looks elsewhere, perhaps Charlo can try to stake his own claim at becoming undisputed champion. His identical twin, Jermell Charlo, can become undisputed ruler of the junior middleweight division on July 17, when he faces WBO titleholder Brian Castano. And Jermall admits that owning all four titles at middleweight is alluring and that he’s intrigued by trying to snatch those missing pieces.
“I mean, wherever the belts lie,” said Charlo, who is joined by GGG, Andrade and Ryota Murata as current middleweight world champs. Canelo is WBC franchise champion at middleweight in addition to holding three out of the four super middleweight world titles.
“If GGG wants this WBC belt,” Charlo separately said during Tuesday’s press conference, “I have it.
“It’s over here, it’s open. I’m ready to fight.”
For what it’s worth, Charlo and GGG fought a common opponent in Sergey Derevyanchenko very differently.
Derevyanchenko pushed Golovkin to his limits in October 2019, staggering the legend, before GGG had his had raised via unanimous decision in a controversial ruling that many fans and critics alike believe could have gone the other way.
In September 2020, Charlo was way more decisive tendering his own unanimous decision over Derevyanchenko, as he asserted the jab early and kept enough space to keep the rugged contender at bay, as well as rock him a couple of times.
“I think a lot of people were surprised how easily Jermall beat Sergey Derevyanchenko,” Charlo’s trainer Ronnie Shields said during Tuesday’s press conference. “He was the No. 1 contender. He was the mandatory defense. He gave GGG problems. He gave Danny Jacobs problems. And Jermall beat him.”
While a win over Montiel next month followed by a crack at Canelo would be ideal, Charlo seeking out the other titles at 160 suits him well, too. Regardless of how it all plays out, considering boxing politics, Charlo feels like he’s due for a big fight.
“I’ll keep fighting who they put in front of me,” Charlo said. “The fights are going to happen sooner than later, but I gotta fight who they put in front of me at the moment.
“I'm coming,” he vowed. “I'm on the way.”