Mexico’s Finest
By Eddie Sanchez
Canelo Alvarez is a BADDDDDDDD Man. That much has been known for quite some time, but after his proper dismantling of the always-tricky Billy Joe Saunders, even the haters are starting to come around.
The star-Mexican has improved to 56-1-2, by way of an 8th round TKO, which left Billy Joe Saunders’ career in doubt. The Brit was left with an orbital bone that was broken in three places, and a cheek bone that was caved in. He had surgery the following day and his status as a professional fighter is in doubt.
While we should not celebrate this too much, the outcome of the fight adds another feather to Canelo’s cap as the Number One P4P fighter in the world.
Canelo now holds three out of the four major belts in the Super Middleweight Division, and is one “Caleb Plant” away from becoming the first Undisputed Champion in the weight class’ history.
Despite the successes, and the near universal celebrations from boxing fans, there are still many within the media who are reserving their praise.
The champion is in an interesting position within the sport. He is the best fighter and top draw. While standing at the top of this mountain is clearly a great thing, Canelo suffers from the inability to please everyone. What makes this natural frustration so powerful though, is the inconsistencies within the media surrounding his opponent choices.
In early 2020, prior to COVID halting the sport, Canelo was rumored to fight Billy Joe Saunders or Callum Smith in May 2020. Many within the media not only doubted Canelo’s willingness to fight them, they openly questioned whether he was even going to truly consider them as opponents because of their recognition as the top two fighters within the division. The narrative was that Canelo’s camp was simply floating their respective names until he would choose a lesser opponent.
Fast forward some fifteen months and Canelo has dominated both of them. With Caleb Plant standing in the way of his goal that is known by every boxing fan, there are surprisingly still many within the media still questioning his choices.
According to BoxingNews24, a popular source for boxing fans, “The casual boxing fans want Canelo to fight Gennadiy Golovkin a third time rather than face the light-hitting finesse fighter Caleb Plant, who is little more than a Billy Joe Saunders 2.0 in this writer’s estimation.”
While the first opinion about GGG may be true, they are unfairly dismissing Plant as a credible and capable foe. It is fair to point out that Caleb has been cautious to not ruin any chance of a super fight, but in the bouts he has taken, he has represented himself as a supremely talented fighter.
Fans and media should recognize that Canelo has a specific goal in mind, and once that goal is completed, he can then be free to fight the best out there for his own sake, which if we are being honest, has always been the case.
I fully expect and hope the Caleb Plant fight happens in September. This will likely be his reintroduction to PPV given that Plant is a PBC fighter and should help set up a highly intriguing next 15 months.
There have been rumors that Canelo will fight in December 2021, which could be a perfect opportunity for the trilogy with GGG. This would accomplish a few goals. Canelo would secure Fighter of the Year Honors (assuming victory) and would take care of the cloud that hangs over his head, this is his greatest rival.
Fans have been clamoring for a trilogy with GGG given the action that took place in the first two bouts, and even though I don’t think it’s necessary, I think Canelo realizes that he must please his fans if he is going to truly smell his roses in the next stage of his career.
If Canelo enters 2022 as the Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion who successfully defended (and got rid of for good) his belt against GGG, fans will then be treated to a completely unleashed Canelo.
There will always be potential foes out there that fans claim “he is ducking,” but at that point, Canelo will have goals and promoter-boundaries in his way preventing him from fighting whomever he wants to fight.
The next three challenges that will make their way into the airwaves and fan-conversation would be Jermall Charlo, David Benavidez and the winner (speaking into existence!) between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Jermall Charlo has been discussed as an option for years. Unfortunately, he has done little to fully cement himself as an option when you consider the challenges he has taken. His team, backed by Al Haymon’s PBC, has been content booking him against overmatched fighters and have stuck with in-house fights. Both of these choices have limited Charlo’s availability and have, up until recently, left him on the outside looking in regarding a shot with Canelo.
Given that Caleb Plant is with PBC, Canelo might find 2022 as being an opportune time to take on Charlo. An added bonus is that Benavidez is also a PBC fighter! Regardless of the order in which Canelo were to potentially fight these men, he could use 2022 as a proper rekindling with Showtime PPV as the Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion.
This layout for the rest of 2021 would offer a gauntlet of stars and load up Canelo’s resume with undeniable respect. He already repaired his relationship with DAZN and Eddie Hearn, and could do similar with Al Haymon and Showtime. The options for the rest of his career would be endless and his career could arguably be solidified as the greatest Mexican boxer ever.
IF his career were to continue this path, with these opponents, the final challenge would be taking on Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol. There is much emphasis on the “or” because they would have no excuse to not finally answer who the best Light Heavyweight in the world is.
While Canelo would be forgiven if he never took that final challenge, it has been his MO to not leave any stone unturned. In my heart of hearts I believe Beterbiev will defeat Bivol if they get the opportunity to fight each other. Assuming this is the case, if Canelo were to fight him, I would be the least confident in predicting a Canelo victory since he fought Mayweather at 23 years of age.
There are so many options for Canelo and it’s amazing to know that he is willing to take the opportunities head on. He has been everything the sport could possibly ask for following Mayweather’s career as a professional-teaser and as a fan, I am truly appreciative.
Let’s hope September 2021 goes as planned so we can see where his career continues.
