Canelo Alvarez is likely to fight Jermall Charlo and Terence Crawford this year, respectively, ending hopes of a David Benavidez fight for now.
ESPN’s Salvador Rodriguez confirmed reports that Canelo will face Charlo on May 4. This would be on the Cinco De Mayo Weekend on PBC’s second PPV on Amazon Prime Video, making it one of the year’s biggest fights due to the occasion. Rodriguez then outlined how Alvarez may face Crawford on September 14, ending any suggestions that he would fight Benavidez on Mexican Independence Day.
So far, there is nothing to state that Canelo will fight the Mexican Monster this year, with no reports of any talks. But Benavidez has been the WBC mandatory at 168 for around two years. There is increasing pressure on the WBC to call the mandatory, but nothing has happened in that regard. But the latest news suggests that fans must wait a little longer.
‼️ Canelo Alvarez reportedly looks likely to fight Jermall Charlo and then Terence Crawford in 2024. [According to @ChavaESPN] pic.twitter.com/6nQVQ9rXSI
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) January 29, 2024
The news has understandably divided the boxing fanbase, given the implications. Charlo is not a natural 168-pound fighter, and boxing fans saw this when Alvarez fought Jermell Charlo. Charlo moved up two weight classes from 154 pounds to for undisputed at 168. He was fighting above 154 pounds for the first time in his career.
That difference in the weight class was telling immediately. Charlo’s punches failed to hurt Canelo, who walked down the American. Although Charlo managed to get up after being knocked down, he was never in a competitive fight. As for a fight with Crawford, Alvarez distanced himself initially when the links started to emerge.
Crawford must move up three weight classes from 147 to get that fight. Canelo clarified that he would not get any credit for the win, but he did not dismiss the fight entirely if it made sense. So, facing Charlo and Crawford may be seen as less risky compared to Benavidez, who is arguably Canelo’s biggest threat. That has raised suggestions that Canelo is ducking the Mexican Monster. Alvarez has addressed that in the past, saying this is nothing new.
“Everybody say the same thing all my life. When I fight with [Austin] Trout, they say I’m ducking Trout. When I fight with other fighters, they say I’m ducking [Gennadiy] Golovkin, I’m ducking Erislandy Lara. Every time I beat every single fighter they say I have this other fighter… they find somebody else. I’m ducking nobody. I’ve been in this position a lot of times. I just do the fights that are the best for the fans. I don’t know. We don’t know that. We’re 100% focused on this fight and we’ll see” Canelo stated
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