Who needs Canelo, right? I guess.
I mean, the guy IS the kingpin of the super middleweight division and still, despite his loss to Dmitry Bivol, one of the very best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He’s also the undisputed cash cow of boxing at the moment. But if he isn’t going to fight the other top dogs lined up behind him– and it certainly appears that his plans do NOT involve him fighting those other top dogs right now– then everyone needs to move on and make things happen on their own.
At this moment, Alvarez’s plans seem pretty much etched in stone. He’s going to face Gennadiy Golovkin in a part 3 to their rivalry on Mexican Independence Day weekend in September and then Bivol in a rematch next Cinco de Mayo weekend.
This means that no deserving super middleweight will get within sniffing distance of a shot at the undisputed championship for, at the very least, another sixteen months or so. Then, factor in the possibility of injury to Alvarez, another defeat for Alvarez (requiring a rematch), and the nagging calls of sanctioning body mandatories…and, well, that sixteen months estimation looks pretty optimistic.
So, what does a raging competitor do if/when their road to a big money score and a piggyback ride to next-level stardom is full of potholes, obstacles, and frustrating detours? Well, you make your own damn road.
Hell, Canelo flat-out told them that.
“They need to fight each other,” Alvarez told ESNEWS when asked about the other contenders wanting a stab at knocking him off his pedestal, specifically David Benavidez and Jermall Charlo.
“And I’ll fight the winner of all of them. Why they don’t fight each other?”
Yeah, why they DON’T fight each other?
Broken English and mockery of broken English aside, that’s good advice.
The logic behind fighting soft touches and waiting on a Canelo sweepstakes ticket is sound. There’s a lot of common sense in playing things safe until you get that fat check in your bank account.
The problem, however, is that there’s really no guarantee that their Canelo sweepstakes ticket will ever present that cash-out opportunity. As we saw in his bout with Bivol, Alvarez IS a human being and a bit of a risk-taker (at least for now). A lot can happen between now and whenever one hopes to cash in their ticket and get a Canelo payday.
The best (and most entertaining for the fans) option for these non-Canelo top dogs is to fight one another in a playoff-style run that would not only assure a stream of good-money fights for these guys, but will also serve to deliver the winner an even bigger payday if/when he gets a Canelo fight.
The talent is definitely there for a deep playoff-style tournament at 168.
There are the two guys who most frequently get named as future Canelo foes: David Benavidez and WBC middleweight champ Jermall Charlo. There’s also David Morrell Jr., who’s only six fights into his pro career, but has a “regular” WBA world title at 168 and is regarded by everyone as a main stage-ready elite-talent right now. Demetrius Andrade is fighting at 168 now and on the cusp of a WBO interim title. The UK’s John Ryder is tough enough for a tourney spot. Former world titlist Caleb Plant got his Canelo ticket cashed already, but he remains a top guy in the division. There’s a handful of other names you could throw in there as well.
Most of these guys– win, lose, or draw– will be better off for having competed in this tournament. Their star will be brighter because their name will be out there on the minds of boxing fans for an extended period of time. Like back in the day with the Super Six World Boxing Classic, the rising tide should lift all boats and add considerable heft to everyone’s reputation.
Maybe this is all just wishful thinking. After all, I don’t exactly see any of these guys sprinting to make something like this happen or, as a matter of fact, to make any non-Canelo major fight happen. But a guy can dream…
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