By: Sean Crose
“You’ve got to be willing to roll the dice in this sport.”
So said promoter Eddie Hearn in a talkSPORT interview. If what he went on to claim is true, then Canelo Alvarez is certainly busy rolling the dice in 2022. This May, the man will fight light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol. After that, he’s expected to face arch rival Gennady Golovkin in September (provided he and Golovkin win their springtime fights). That’s a full schedule for a contemporary fight star. Top boxers are known to only fight twice a year, after all. On top of that, however, Canelo is set to face the kind of serious competition in Bivol and Golovkin that top fighters rarely do. Yet Hearn indicates Canelo doesn’t intend to stop there.
“Canelo Alvarez,” Hearn told talkSPORT, “wants to fight in the UK.” What’s more, Hearn said: “Canelo Alvarez and Eddie Reynoso both want to fight in December.” That’s three fights in a single year – with at least two of those fights being quite competitive on paper. “They’ve asked me to look up options for Guadalajara and London,” Hearn added. “We’ve got John Ryder whose mandatory at 168 pounds and you’ve got the winner of this fight (Craig Richards-Joshua Buatsi). Both guys great options, great opponents for Canelo Alvarez in December.”
Hearn admitted, however, that a third Canelo fight in 2022 requires more than just talk. “There’s a lot that’s got to go right for everybody,” he said, “but if Canelo Alvarez wants to fight in London in December, which we’re told that he would like to explore that option, the winner of this fight(Richards-Buatsi) is a clear frontrunner, because this is an official eliminator for the winner of Canelo against Bivol.”
England’s Hearn, of course, would like to see Canelo fight “across the pond” in Great Britain. Canelo operates in North America and it would be interesting to see him fight in say, a sold out European arena later this year. “I would certainly love to bring Canelo Alvarez to the UK.” No doubt a lot of British fans would, as well.
