Via Sean Jones: Coach/manager Eddy Reynoso says Canelo Alvarez will face summer light heavyweight unification winner Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr on September 17 if Gennadiy Golovkin loses the bout on Thursday night. April 9 in Saitama, Japan.
To face the winner Beterbiev vs. Smith for the undisputed light heavyweight championship in September, Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) will also need to beat 175-lb WBA champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7 in a match of them at the T- Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
With Beterbiev and Smith fighting over the summer, the winner won’t have much time to recuperate before needing to return to the ring to face Canelo on September 17.
It’s unclear if Reynoso thinks that’s out of the equation, as he would put winner Beterbiev-Smith in a situation where they would return to training camp almost immediately after the grueling fight.
That’s not quite ideal, and is reminiscent of what happened to the former WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev when he played against Canelo in November 2019.
Kovalev had had a fierce fight less than three months earlier with Anthony Yarde on August 24, 2019, when he was selected to take on Canelo on November 2.
That left Kovalev with little time to recover from that bout, and he later faced a rehydration clause that limited his sideweight on match day to 185 pounds.
It wouldn’t be ideal for winner Beterbiev-Smith to take on Canelo on September 17 if they were exhausted from this summer’s fight. Sean Jones doesn’t know how either of them can get back into the ring to fight Canelo at 100%.
Of course, if that’s the whole idea of Canelo’s willingness to battle winner Beterbiev vs. Smith Jr in September, you can see why he did it. It gives Canelo enough rest, a huge incentive to go up against the winner of that contest.
Canelo has a much higher chance of temporarily losing the match against undefeated Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) than Golovkin against 36-year-old Murata (16-2, 13 KOs), who is about to lose 3-fire five.
Reynoso did not say what a plan B would be if Canelo lost to Bivol and Golovkin beat Murata on Saturday. Will Canelo still fight Golovkin in September or will he risk going against Bivol for a rematch?
Canelo will have to take a big risk fighting Bivol a second time if he is taught by the Russian the way Floyd Mayweather Jr did him in 2013.
“We have some provisions in case Saúl doesn’t go against Golovkin for everything, maybe a cut, injury, accident, etc. So if we win in May we have door can be opened. to fight against winners Beterbiv and Smith” Eddy Reynoso said to ESPN Deportes.
“We have a good relationship with Bob Arum, and it’s a fight that I think is going to happen sooner or later.”
The undefeated 175-lb IBF/WBC champion Beterbiev (17-0.17 KOs) is considered the #1 boxer in the light heavyweight division, and he is expected to beat WBO champion Joe Smith Jr. (28-3, 22 KOs). summer war.
“We have to see what he looks like against Murata. That fight will be the guideline to see what Golovkin has to offer against Canelo,” Reynoso said.
Well, Golovkin will probably take out Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) without any hitch on Saturday night at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Murata has never fought from a distance with anyone quite as well as an A-level fighter during his nine-year professional career, and we’ve seen him lose to Hassan N’Dam and Rob Brant.
The real question is can Canelo beat Bivol on May 7? If not, Canelo & Reynoso will need to make a major career decision whether to push for a rematch or go through.
They can always make an excuse not to rematch with Bivol by telling the public that he’s overvalued himself and that the average boxing fan will believe it. But if Canelo wants to follow in the footsteps of the sport’s legends, he will face Bivol in a rematch and put his career first in that fight.
