Canelo Alvarez back to courting Billy Joe Saunders, Callum Smith
Canelo Alvarez evidently has circled back to Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith in his search for an opponent.
DAZN and Golden Boy Promotions, which handles Alvarez, are working on a fight between the Mexican superstar and one of the British super middleweight titleholders in November or December, BoxingScene.com has reported.
They haven’t settled on a specific date but, according to the website, they prefer November. The fight is expected to take place in either Las Vegas or Los Angeles.
Alvarez had agreed to fight Saunders on May 2 but that fight gave way to COVID-19 before contracts were signed. Alvarez then targeted Sept. 12 for his next fight but problems ensued.
One, offers were made to prospective opponents but none accepted. And, two, Alvarez and DAZN reportedly have been at odds over the amount of money he would be paid for the fight, expected to take place without spectators.
DAZN has ponied up $40 million licensing fees for Alvarez fights, from which the purses of Alvarez and his opponent have come. The streaming service reportedly offered about half that amount for Alvarez’s next fight, which apparently caused an impasse.
DAZN presumably is coming in with a higher figure for the renewed talks, which could lead to a deal.
Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) last fought on Nov. 2 of last year in Las Vegas, when he stopped Sergey Kovalev in 11 rounds to win a light heavyweight title.
Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs) is coming off an 11th-round stoppage of Marcelo Coceres last Nov. 9 in Los Angeles. He holds the WBO 168-pound title.
Smith (27-0, 19 KOs) defeated John Ryder by a unanimous decision on Nov. 23 in Liverpool. He’s the WBA super middleweight champ. Alvarez stopped Rocky Fielding in three rounds in 2018 to win what the WBA calls its “regular” 168-pound title, which Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize.
The WBC ordered a fight between Alvarez and No. 1 contender Avni Yildirim for its vacant super middleweight title. However, DAZN, with which Alvarez has a contract, refused to stream it.