Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez remains without an opponent for his next fight, although there has come an indication of the weight at which he will land.
The four-division and reigning World middleweight king is considering a number of his options for his ring return, which will likely take place May 2 as part of a pre-Cinco de Mayo celebration weekend. Rumors have him fighting at super middleweight—a welcome landing pad, having fought at light heavyweight and middleweight in his two prior starts.
“There’s so many options. I would hate to even throw a name out there,” Oscar de la Hoya, Alvarez’s promoter told BoxingScene.com during a recent media session Monday afternoon in Los Angeles. “Once you throw names out there, they act like they're the guy. The numbers go up drastically.”
Alvarez (53-1-2, 36KOs) continues to enjoy a victory lap following his 2019 Fighter of the Year campaign, which saw the wildly popular figure from Guadalajara, Mexico win high profile title fights at middleweight and light heavyweight. Victories over Daniel Jacobs in their three-belt unification bout last May and Sergey Kovalev to claim a light heavyweight title last November were preceded by his claiming a secondary super middleweight title following a three-round wipeout of Rocky Fielding in December 2018.
It appears as if Alvarez will eventually settle on a return to super middleweight, which de la Hoya—a Hall of Fame former six-division titlist whose Golden Boy Promotions outfit has promoted the reigning World middleweight champion for more than a decade—advises as the best move. A return to light heavyweight isn’t out of the question, although his vacating the title he won from Kovalev at least lends the suggestion that a drop down in weight will likely come with his next ring appearance.
Just how far down remains the question.
“He did vacate the light heavyweight [title]... but it doesn't mean he can't stay at light heavyweight,” notes de la Hoya. “We'll see. He has many options. 168, 160—just from my experience of moving up in weight and then coming all the way back to 147—I don't know if it will be a little difficult for him.”
Moving up and down in weight is something to which de la Hoya can intimately speak. The bulk of his title wins came in a linear sense, claiming belts in every weight division from 130 through 160 pounds and in that order complete with a June 2004 disputed decision win over Felix Sturm. A knockout loss to then-World (and three-belt) middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins in September 2004 resulted in an extended ring break, returning in May 2006 and as a junior middleweight where he began a second tour as a 154-pound titlist following a knockout win over Ricardo Mayorga.
The reign ended with a May 2007 points loss to Floyd Mayweather, his last as a full-fledged junior middleweight. A May 2008 win over Steve Forbes came at a 150-pound catchweight, while his career ending one-sided stoppage loss to Manny Pacquiao came as part of an ill-advised return to welterweight, where he weighed 145 pounds, his lightest weight since the tail end of his junior welterweight (140-pound) title reign more than a decade prior.
As such, it’s understandable why he would carry reservations about any of his clients—never mind the company’s greatest revenue generator—dropping too far down in weight.
“I think (168) would be a nice move for him,” notes de la Hoya. “That's all up to his team. We will see what his team decides and will go from there.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
