Canelo Alvarez struggles to nail down his next opponent amid disagreements over who should be in the opposite corner on May 4.
The Mexican superstar had a blueprint of facing both Charlo brothers before a mandatory clash with David Benavidez when signing with Al Haymon in 2023.
Canelo’s opponent headache
However, the collapse of Showtime and outside-of-the-ring problems for Jermall Charlo have given Canello and Haymon a headache.
Jermall doesn’t seem to be in the right frame of mind to be fighting despite returning from a long absence in November. Issues have seemingly reared their heads again after Charlo defeated Jose Benavidez Jr.
Charlo had to pass off facing Canelo once, leading to his twin sibling taking his place. Jermell lost with a whimper against Canelo last September.
It’s hoped Charlo will be ready to accept the fight after his recent holiday. However, there’s no guarantee as the next $35 million payment to Canelo hangs in the balance. That sum is the minimum Canelo will earn for each fight with PBC, who wanted the Charlos to get their shots.
Any future fights for both would reap some of that money back in Pay Per Views. But now, with the situation regarding Jermall unclear, Haymon is forced to look at alternatives.
Chris Eubank Jr. alternate
One is Jaime Munguia, despite Canelo ruling out a Mexican opponent. The other wild card, World Boxing News understands, is Chris Eubank Jr. – either for May or September.
Eubank has respectfully mutual ties to Haymon and was slated to face Jermall Charlo at one point. That fight fell through at the later negotiation stages, and both fighters moved on. But Haymon likes Eubank’s swagger and undoubtedly wouldn’t have a problem with the fight if the terms were correct.
WBN also understands the fight could happen without the involvement of Haymon whatsoever as question marks remain over the agreement being fulfilled.
The possibility arises after Eubank’s father, Chris Sr., stated his son must face Canelo for his legacy. Senior also wants Junior to stop fighting at middleweight despite recently being named the number one in the division by BoxRec.
“My son is now walking around at 13st 5lbs, that’s 187lbs,” Eubank told talkSPORT. “So for him to lose 27lbs to get down to middleweight, this is a man’s life. He will never get down to that weight again, ever.”
Brit-bashing
Bringing Canelo into the equation for a super middleweight battle, Eubank added: “Let’s get to the point; Canelo is the only person he’s going to be able to fight now to redeem any respect from the fighting public.
“Real fighters, real boxing people. I know how you win respect, it’s not beating a Liam Smith. Junior, this is what my view is – your saving grace is going to be Canelo.
“You’re never going to get back down to 160lbs. I won’t allow that to happen anyway. You’re a 168-pound fighter.”
On his son’s chances against the undisputed king of 168, the British legend concluded: “Canelo is your way to win respect, and you cannot beat him, not Canelo. The only way you can beat him is if daddy is next to you. That’s it.”
Canelo likes to face UK foes, as his career record suggests. So far, he’s defeated Matthew Hatton, Ryan Rhodes, Amir Khan, Liam and Callum Smith, Rocky Fielding, Billy Joe Saunders, and John Ryder.
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Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer and has been the Editor of World Boxing News since 2010.
