Canelo Alvarez must announce who he will fight on May 4th in Las Vegas as soon as possible while big names like Jaime Munguia, David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo, Dmitry Bivol, and Terence Crawford top the long list of contenders who he can choose from.
Canelo will not face Munguia, Benavidez or Bivol
Jaime Munguia knocked out Canelo’s last opponent John Ryder and is waiting for his title shot, while David Benavidez also had a solid performance when he knocked out Demetrius Andrade, back in November.
However, it seems Canelo will keep his word of not fighting another Mexican, and, according to ESPN Mexico boxing insider Salvador Rodriguez, he has already chosen two big names in the American card for his May and September fights.
The chosen ones would be Jermall Charlo, Jermell’s twin whom Canelo easily defeated in September, and Terence Crawford, who is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world after a spectacular knockout of Errol Spence to become the undisputed welterweight champion and the first to be undisputed in two different divisions; if he fights Canelo, he would be looking for a third undisputed title of his career.
The source indicates that Canelo would face Charlo in May and Crawford in September, anticipating a great fight, with the caveat that the Mexican would force both challengers to move up in division to face him on unequal terms. With both fights, Canelo would conclude his three-fight contract with PBC.
Jermall Charlo (31-0, 22 KO’s) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jose Benavidez. He is the current WBC middleweight champion, so he would only have to move up one division. However, what is shaping up to be a fight split opinion is against Crawford, who holds an undefeated record of 40 wins with 31 knockouts.
Meanwhile, Benavidez, Munguía and even Dmitry Bivol himself will be left waiting for a chance, even though many boxing fans criticized Canelo for “avoiding giving a chance to these two Mexican-blooded contenders, in what would also be a difficult fight.
At the same time, Bivol, who gave a lecture against the Mexican champion in September 2022, is focused on a unification fight in the light heavyweight fight, against Artur Beterbiyev, after failing to reach an agreement with Canelo.
