NEXT OPPONENT WILL ‘SURPRISE EVERYONE’

Yesterday, Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez revealed that Canelo’s next opponent for a May 2nd bout is close to being signed and will ‘surprise everybody’. Gomez said they are close to making an announcement and the unnamed opponent will be ‘dangerous’ for the Mexican champion.

“The opponent is secured and he’s one of the top fighters in boxing. It’s actually a very good fight, a very dangerous fight for Saul, a very dangerous fight for him.”

Conflicting reports in recent weeks have mentioned multiple names for Canelo including Japan’s Ryota Murata, WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders and World Boxing Super Series winner Callum Smith. However, this latest news suggests it’s probably not one of he above and most likely a fighter who hasn’t been mentioned before.

After Canelo vacated his WBO light heavyweight title, it was clear that his next move was to move back down to 168 or 160 pounds and therefore avoid potential unification fights against the likes of Dimitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. Names such as unbeaten WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade, and fellow Mexican Gilberto Ramirez have been put forward by fans. Out of those, Charlo would perhaps be the most popular pick amongst the fans and would be a good mixture of styles. Andrade told DAZN he is not holding his breath for the fight, “If Canelo comes, Canelo comes. Everybody’s just waiting for Canelo (like) duck, duck, goose. We still got to do what we got to do. We still got to make a living. We still got to make our own legacies. I think that’s the best way to make (it).” Ramirez, who vacated his super middleweight title back in May, is set to face Eleider Alvarez which will be held on the Lomachenko Teofimo Lopez undercard and so is an unlikely option at this stage.

It’s 9 weeks until the Cinco de Mayo holiday so Team Canelo need to act quickly, finalise the deal and give the fans an exciting match up to look forward to.

Who is your pick for Canelo?
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Photographer – Amanda Wescott