According to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, Mexican sensation and pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez might be on the hunt for another fight aside from Ilunga Makabu.
Makabu appears to be caught in a situation that forces him to make a mandatory title defense against Thabiso Mchunu next instead of taking an optional defense against Canelo, and to that end Arum says Canelo and his team have expressed interest in potential fights against light heavyweight titleholders Artur Betevbiev and Joe Smith Jr.
“He has expressed interest to me about fighting Beterbiev or Joe Smith Jr. I would look forward to May or September, the two dates that Canelo likes to fight, that he would fight one of those light-heavyweights.”
Arum seems to firmly believe that Canelo will ultimately have to abandon his hopes of facing Makabu next, but says with Canelo showing interest in facing either Beterbiev or Smith you can’t doubt the man is willing to lay it all on the line.
“Canelo is a risk-taker and that makes him so popular. It would be a massive fight because the betting action would go both ways. Some will way Beterbiev is too big and powerful. Others will say Canelo is special and can handle everybody.”
Beterbiev is currently scheduled to defend his WBC and IBF titles against Marcus Browne this weekend, while Smith is slated to face Callum Johnson at the top of the near on January 15th. Let’s see if either of them will be able to make an impression on the Mexican star.