Teofimo Lopez: "Canelo is on a completely different level"

Saul Alvarez and Teofimo Lopez
Saul Alvarez and Teofimo Lopez

Boxing experts are wondering who Saul Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs), number one in professional boxing regardless of weight classes, will fight next after a win over Caleb Plant (21-1, 12 KOs). The most common name mentioned in this context is WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs).

On Saturday, the Mexican won his fourth supermiddleweight title by taking the IBF belt from the American. After with this victory many experts recognized the merits of Canelo. One of them is Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs), the unified lightweight champion and winner of Vasyl Lomachenko. "This guy is the king of boxing right now," Lopez said after Alvarez's win.

"I would say right now Canelo is going to fight Jermall Charlo, not Benavides. I wouldn't rate this fight. The American is unlikely to get him in trouble, but it's sure to be an exciting fight. I like Canelo more than ever now that he did what he had to do in the duel with Plante. He became the outright champion and became the first Mexican to do it," Lopez said.

Also, experts say Alvarez is serious about a repeat appearance in the light heavyweight division and a possible bout with Arthur Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs). In addition to Beterbiev, Dmitry Bivol (WBA) and Joe Smith Jr (WBO) are the champions in the light heavyweight division.

Even before the fight with Plant Alvarez stated that the idea of a fight with Beterbiev is very much to his liking: "Right now I'm concentrating only on Plante. After the fight, maybe we'll think about Beterbiev. I don't think it's a crazy idea. On the contrary, I like it very much. I love these types of challenges and fights with more serious opponents," Alvarez said.