After his unanimous decision victory over IBF middleweight champion Danny Jacobs last Saturday night in Las Vegas, there are three likely options for what Canelo Alvarez will do next.
Canelo Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) added another belt to his collection last Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas when he defeated IBF middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs by unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113, 115-113). Alvarez is now the WBC, WBA, IBF and Ring Magazine middleweight champion.
It was a close and competitive fight, but once again Alvarez showed why he is a top five pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. Alvarez is much more than a power puncher; he can outbox his opponents and his slick defense frustrates his opponents.
At just 28 years of age, Alvarez has already compiled a Hall of Fame resume with wins over Gennady Golovkin, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Erislandy Lara, Amir Khan and now Jacobs.
So now the question is, “What’s next for Alvarez?”
Whatever he decides, it will be a must see as he is by far the biggest attraction in boxing as evident by the 1.2 million viewers that watched his fight with Jacobs.
The possibilities are endless for Alvarez, but here are the three likely options for what he does next.
1. 3rd fight with GGG
Trilogies are what used to define eras in boxing from Ali vs. Frazier to Leonard vs. Duran, Bowe vs. Holyfield to Gatti vs. Ward. Alvarez two fights with Gennady Golvkin may not have matched the intensity of the previously mentioned rivalries, but they were close and some would say were disputed.
When Alvarez and Golovkin fought for the first time back in September of 2017 the fight ended in a draw but most ringside observers felt Golovkin won. When they fought again a year later, Alvarez came away victorious via majority decision but some felt Golovkin should have been victorious in this fight as well.
Golovkin has a fight on June 8 against Steve Rolls at Madison Square Garden in which Golovkin is expected to win easily. Should Golovkin defeat Rolls, he would available to fight Alvarez for the third time in September.
Alvarez vs. GGG 3 would be once again the biggest fight of the year and maybe this time we’ll get a clear winner.
2. Fight Demetrius Andrade
The only major middleweight title that Alvarez does not hold is the WBO title which is held by the undefeated Demetrius Andrade (27-0, 17 KOs). Andrade hasn’t faced a fighter near the caliber of Alvarez, but he has speed and elusiveness that could cause Alvarez problems.
Andrade will defend his title on June 29 against Maciej Sulecki at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence Rhode Island. Sulecki is a rugged challenger, but Andrade should come away with the 28th victory of his career and would be in a position to fight Alvarez this fall.
Alvarez versus Andrade wouldn’t have the luster or fan appeal like a third fight with Golovkin, but it would provide Alvarez the rare opportunity to hold all four major titles in one weight class.
3. Move back up to Super Middleweight
Not only is Alvarez a unified middleweight champion, but he also won the WBA “Regular” Super Middleweight title when he moved up in weight and knocked out Rocky Fielding in three rounds in December at Madison Square Garden.
? @Canelo told @EddieHearn to keep em' coming. ?
(?: @Boxing_Social) pic.twitter.com/j7Xh3NpqF4
— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) May 9, 2019
If Alvarez isn’t intrigued by any of his possible opponents at middleweight, he could then move back up to super middleweight where he could challenge undefeated Callum Smith (25-0, 18 KOs) for his version of the middleweight title. A case could be made that at this point of his career, moving up to 168 pounds would serve Alvarez best as he would have to cut less weight during training.
Alvarez will turn 29 in July and around that time we should find out who he plans to fight next. With Alvarez still in his prime, it’s possible his best is yet to come with is a scary proposition for the rest of the middleweights and super middleweights.
