Race to face Canelo picks up with Bruno Surace seeking ‘historic fight’ and Jermall Charlo in contention
Now that the race for Saul "Canelo" Alvarez’s signature has been won, the race to stand in the opposite corner has begun.
On Thursday, boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh revealed that he had signed Canelo to a four-fight deal, with two contests in 2025 and two in 2026.
The September fight is likely to be on the 13th against Terence Crawford in Las Vegas. Crawford wrote on his socials: “I’m waiting on Canelo in September and I’m going to shock the world in Riyadh Season.”
But Canelo is due to fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Cinco de Mayo weekend and BoxingScene understands two fighters are presently being considered: Frenchman Bruno Surace, who stunned Jaime Munguia in the 2024 Upset of the Year, and Jermall Charlo, the 33-0 (22 KOs) middleweight whose twin, Jermell, Canelo comprehensively outboxed in September 2023.
“It is Canelo and Alalshikh who decide,” said a source close to the negotiations.
Abdel Achour, who helps to manage Surace, referred to the fact that Munguia is now being trained by longtime Canelo trainer Eddy Reynoso and joked: “Munguia is with Canelo now. Maybe Munguia’s coach told him that it was not good to box Bruno.”
He then added: “We pray that Canelo chooses us. We want Canelo. He’s the king.”
And having already notched the scalp of one high-profile Mexican, Surace – 26-0-2 (5 KOs) – would like to play the role of David against Goliath again.
“The Cinco De Mayo is Mexico against France,” he said. “It would be an opportunity to make a historic fight. Everyone would represent their county.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.