Boxing Only


Is Canelo Struggling At 160lbs?

Posted: 06-05-2019
Author: Andy Farr

Talk immediately after Canelo's excellent win over Daniel Jacobs suggests that going forward both fighters may seek fights in the higher 168lb division. That may not please the fans who are waiting for the third fight in the Canelo vs GGG saga but opens up some mouth-watering possibilities.

Eric Gomez, CEO at Golden Boy Promotions has been reported as saying that Canelo had told him after the Jacobs fight that he is interested in fighting the WBA Super Super-middleweight champion Callum Smith in his next fight.

Canelo seen trading with Daniel Jacobs
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez won his middleweight unification bout against Daniel "Miracle Man" Jacobs at the T-mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

With Golovkin sitting ringside at the Jacobs fight, many will have assumed that a trilogy fight with Canelo was the most likely fight for September, however, Golden Boy's Oscar De La Hoya had stated in the Canelo Jacobs build-up that GGG would need to win the last remaining 160lb title not presently in the hands of his Mexican superstar, the WBO title that Demetrius Andrade currently holds before the third instalment could take place.

That simply is not going to happen in time for the September date. Golovkin is scheduled to face the unbeaten but also unknown Canadian Steve Rolls on June 8th at Madison Square Garden in New York, so he could not fit in Andrade and then Canelo this year.

 

Alvarez would be favoured to beat the WBC (Anthony Dirrell) and IBF (Caleb Plant) champions at 168lbs if he decided to move up but as they both fight under the Premier Boxing Champions banner, those fights will be much harder to make.

Billy Joe Saunders has a chance to force his way into a big-money fight at Super-middleweight when he faces Shefat Isufi for the vacant WBO title on 18th May at the Lamex Stadium, Stevenage, England.

Promoted by Frank Warren's Queensbury Promotions, Saunders if successful against Isufi would I believe be happy to face Alvarez in America. He has chased a fight against the Mexican for a long time now, why wouldn't he? The money would be huge for the former WBO middleweight champion.

Callum Smith vs George Groves poster
Callum Smith ripped the WBA Super Super-middleweight crown from George Groves in the final of the WBSS tournament.

But it is Callum Smith who fights under the Matchroom Boxing/DAZN partnership that Canelo can face without any promotional entanglements. The 11 fight deal that Alvarez signed for $365m will ensure that DAZN will want him in money-spinning events each and every time he fights.

Smith is universally renowned as the best 168lb fighter in the world. At 6ft 3In he would dwarf the 5ft 8In Mexican and would match, if not better him in punch power. There may have been doubters before he won the WBSS Ali trophy against George Groves in Saudi Arabia but the manner in which he beat the former WBA Super super-middleweight holder left few arguments about his place on top at 168lbs.

Alvarez would need to get inside Smith's long reach, but as he will have found when facing older brother Liam in a WBO Super-welterweight title bout in 2016, the Liverpool brothers can fight as well on the inside as out.

If it happens, this could possibly be a better fight than the one we have just witnessed against Jacobs.