By Luis Sandoval

Recently crowned WBC Middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be taking on Peter Manfredo Jr in his first title defense on November 19th but already there have been plenty of talks about who his next opponent will be.

One fighter who is interested and has been very vocal is Chavez’s mandatory challenger Sergio Martinez. He has expressed that Chavez should fight him next and if he doesn’t want to, he should give up his belt.

Chavez Jr. who spoke to BoxingScene was asked if the Martinez fight is a fight he wants and if it will be his next fight assuming he is victorious against Peter Manfredo Jr.

“Yes, it’s a fight that’s being talked about a lot. I’d like to fight Martinez” said Chavez. “But it’s difficult to say if that fight will get made because we are also working on a possible fight with Canelo Alvarez”.

A fight between Chavez Jr and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez would be a huge money fight as both men have a strong following in Mexico and seem to be on a collision course to fight each other. Most of the boxing public would love to see these two undefeated fighters fight and it looks like things could be closer to happening than we think.

“Well, it’s like I said. There have already been talks regarding making that fight. But it’s difficult to confirm anything right now” said Chavez. “I hope the fight can be made. The people in Mexico really want that fight. So let’s hope the fight can be made with Canelo”.

With Martinez being his mandatory and a fight with Canelo being one of the bigger fights that can be made, it will be interesting to see what route Top Rank chooses to go. As of right now, it looks like both Martinez and Canelo will be the likely frontrunners.

“There are already talks right now [to fight Canelo] but if that fight can’t be made, there are still a lot of fighters I can fight. There’s Martinez, there’s other fighters” expressed the Mexico native.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr first needs to take care of business on November 19th against Peter Manfredo. Let’s hope a fight with Martinez or Canelo can be made for next year.

You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter @truewest007 or send questions to luis.sandoval80@yahoo.com. You can also listen to BoxingScene’s official audio show “The Boxing Lab” every Tuesday from 6-8PM PST with hosts Ernest Gabion, Luis Sandoval and Ryan Burton.