Hector Vivas/Getty Images
Coming off his first fight of 2023, Canelo Alvarez is already starting to his eye his next potential opponent and is targeting Jermall Charlo and Badou Jack, according to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger.
Alvarez, 32, defeated John Ryder on May 6 in Mexico via unanimous decision. He and his trainer/manager, Eddy Reynoso, met with PBC founder Al Haymon in Cleveland, the two sides discussed a possible fight with Charlo, per Coppinger’s sources.
The undisputed super middleweight champion has also been in talks with Jack’s manager, Amer Abdallah.
In the past, Alvarez has been adamant about wanting a rematch against Dmitry Bivol in September. Bivol handed Alvarez his first defeat in nearly nine years in May 2022.
But now it looks like the target may be changing for him.
Charlo, 33, would be coming off a very long layoff to face Alvarez, having not fought since June 2021, when he scored a unanimous-decision win over Juan Macias Montiel. His time off has been due to mental health reasons, according to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman.
He is still undefeated at 32-0 with 22 knockouts and is a former 154-pound titleholder who has never competed above 160 pounds, which is where Alvarez has basically lived over the last several years.
It is unclear as to how close Charlo and Alvarez got on a deal, with PBC not responding to ESPN’s request for comment.
The same cannot be said for Jack, as Abdallah told ESPN on Monday that serious progress has already been made, with the financials and the approximate date already being agreed upon.
It would be for Jack’s 200-pound title and take place in Saudi Arabia in October. Alvarez has wanted to fight in Saudi Arabia for a while
“It’s now just getting it over the finish line with the weight,” Abdallah said. “And mind you, that’s not a small hurdle, but it’s one we’re going back and forth on. So far, this has been the only situation and the only term that we’ve not fully agreed on. … But I’m hoping that if you fight for [a] cruiserweight [title], you’ve got to at least fight around the cruiserweight division [200 pounds] and not at light heavyweight [175 pounds].”
Jack, 39, is a former super middleweight titleholder and light heavyweight contender. He hasn’t weighed under 198.5 pounds since June 2021, which is way out of Alvarez’s typical range.
Alvarez has never weighed in at more than 174.5 pounds.
