Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez gets ready to defend his unified super-middleweight world titles against Puerto Rico's Edgar Berlanga this weekend in Las Vegas. The undefeated Berlanga steps up as the number one contender, aiming to dethrone the Mexican champion.
Fans have been calling for Canelo to face tougher opponents, with David Benavidez at 168 pounds seen as the biggest threat. There's also pressure for him to fight Terence Crawford, who recently became a four-weight world champion. Crawford might even hang up his gloves if he can't land the Canelo fight.
But Canelo's got his sights set on a different challenge. He wants to face Dmitry Bivol next May, assuming Bivol beats Artur Beterbiev on October 12th for the undisputed light-heavyweight championship.
"When I spoke to Canelo yesterday he said he wants Dmitry Bivol next [in May] provided Bivol does beat Artur Beterbiev on October 12th for the undisputed light-heavyweight championship. And what's nice about that fight, if it does happen, is it's a real departure from Canelo's last three or four fights – that's a fight where Canelo's going to be a decided underdog … That's a real legacy-defining fight."
This quote from Mike Coppinger shows how serious Canelo is about facing Bivol again. Bivol handed Canelo his second professional loss back in 2022, winning the WBA Light-Heavyweight World Title by unanimous decision. He joined Floyd Mayweather as the only fighters to beat Alvarez.
There's a catch, though. Bivol wants to move down and challenge for Canelo's super-middleweight belts, while Canelo wants to run it back at light-heavyweight. They'll need to sort out this disagreement before any rematch can happen.
The light-heavyweight division is heating up. The winner of Bivol vs Beterbiev will become the first undisputed champion in the weight class since Roy Jones Jr. This makes Canelo's potential fight with Bivol even more significant.
All this talk about future fights doesn't change the fact that Canelo's got a tough test in front of him this weekend. He'll need to focus on Berlanga before he can start thinking about Bivol or anyone else.
