Canelo expected to give up middleweight titles!

[Enlightened-One]

"Canelo expected to give up middleweight titles, campaign at 168 or above"

On the back of Canelo Alvarez being elevated to WBC ‘Franchise Champion’ at middleweight and dropping his green and gold belt, the Mexican superstar is expected to do likewise with the IBF and WBA versions.

Canelo gave way to interim WBC title holder Jermall Charlo in a bid to become a recognized three and four belt champion.

The Golden Boy and DAZN star wants to join the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez, Jorge Arce and Erik Morales in the history books of his home nation.

With the jury out on whether Canelo is actually at title holder (WBA regular) at super-middleweight, there may be work to do at that weight class.

As WBN first reported, Canelo is already eyeing up a move to 175 pounds to battle Sergey Kovalev. But Canelo will probably need to pick up another belt at 168 too.

Whatever happens, it seems the 28 year-old has left the 160 limit division behind. This follows his draw and win over Gennadiy Golovkin.

A third fight between the pair is expected to take place in May 2020. Canelo v GGG 3 looks set to happen at the eight pound higher poundage, if at all.

Thoughts?

[Noxy]

Canelo at 175?! I don’t see that. I don’t see him as a bona fide super middle.

[SenorPipino]

Article was poorly written and cited absolutely no sources regarding Canelo abandoning the middleweight belts.

Just some guy opining.

[Perseus]

Just for the sake of lineage I was hoping he would stay at 160 until somebody beat him but it's hard to find fault with stepping up to face Smith or Kovalev.
Middleweight champion lineage is approaching two decades unbroken, would be nice to see it continue.

[Onetimeonly]

He'd stop kovalev.

[KiwiRider]

Article was poorly written and cited absolutely no sources regarding Canelo abandoning the middleweight belts.

Just some guy opining.

Seems like it to me as well.
While I wouldn't be surprised if Canelo dropped a belt or two ( nothing new there) he is tied up in a very large contract, and who knows if he even has the authority to drop a belt.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

[conan_the_cribber]

He'd stop kovalev.

Only if he brought a baseball bat along with him.

[Best Coast]

He'd stop kovalev.

Wouldnt surprise me at all. Kovalev's KO loss to Eleider Alvarez shows me he is ripe for the taking at age 36, despite Krusher's decision win in the rematch.

[Enlightened-One]

Article was poorly written and cited absolutely no sources regarding Canelo abandoning the middleweight belts.

Just some guy opining.

Under normal circumstances, I’d usually agree with you, because what you’ve written is technically true, but the content of the article adheres to the general consensus of the media. And that’s something that cannot possibly be denied.

We’ve recently heard people, such as Eddie Hearn, Kathy Duva and Oscar De La Hoya, comment on Canelo’s potential bouts against Callum Smith and Sergey Kovalev.

That’s not to say the Canelo-GGG rematch won’t happen, because DAZN clearly wants it, but there’s a possibility that it won’t be competed at 160lbs.

Tom Loeffler has even confirmed that Canelo’s and GGG’s statuses in the sport have both transcended the belts, which basically means their third-bout is going to take place regardless of what the sports’ governing bodies want or whether any titles are in play or not. I’m not even sure if Gennadiy is motivated to become a world champion again – he seems to only want the big-money bouts against marquee names.

I could be wrong, but if you review the aggregated list of fighters that comprise The RING and ESPN's top-ten middleweight rankings, I really can’t help thinking that we’re unlikely to see bouts staged at 160lbs between Canelo and his peers.

Canelo has already beaten Daniel Jacobs, Maciej Sulecki just tasted defeat in his most recent outing, Demetrius Andrade isn’t a big name (even in his own hometown & also his fighting style is not pleasing) and nobody has heard of Kamil Szeremeta either (with the Pole having recently rejected the GGG bout due to not being ready).

The other guys at 160lbs aren’t DAZN fighters, which makes those bouts unlikely (i.e. Rob Brant [Top Rank], Jermall Charlo [PBC], Sergiy Derevyanchenko [PBC], Ryota Murata [Top Rank] and Matt Korobov [PBC]).

Regardless, the biggest money bouts for Canelo at this point in time are Golovkin, Kovalev and Smith. He won’t consider facing anyone else unless they’re late substitutes or stay-busy tune-up fights.

[Enlightened-One]

Callum Smith has this morning told TalkSport that he’s received a 50-50 offer to face fellow 168lbs world champion Billy Joe Saunders in a unification fight on BT pay-per-view.

So if Canelo faces Kovalev and Smith fights Saunders next (though I feel the latter is less likely), then GGG will inevitably engage in another stay-busy tune-up interim fight in order to protect his Cinco de Mayo 2020 fight-date against Alvarez.

[Onetimeonly]

Only if he brought a baseball bat along with him.

All he needs is those body shots. That's assuming yarde doesn't stop him first. I love kovalev, but he's done.

[Enlightened-One]

If Canelo wants Kovalev, then the Brit would be paid to step-aside. The WBO and Yarde would both very likely be agreeable to this.

I feel that Canelo will find it easier to beat Kovalev than he would defeating GGG.

Krusher can’t outbox Canelo and I’m not even sure if the Russian is as heavy-handed or has a work-rate as good as Golovkin’s either. Sergey is physically not that much taller than his close friend Gennadiy and nor is he’s as good a boxer.

Kovalev rehydrates to between 181lbs and 189lbs for his light heavyweight bouts (i.e. 189lbs vs. Pascal; 188lbs vs. Hopkins; 183lbs vs. Agnew; 181lbs vs. Sillakh etc.). So he’s not huge at the weight.

Canelo is very good with his body shots, which is something that Kovalev has previously proven to be very susceptible to. Sergey also tends to tire after six rounds.

The Mexican has never looked like being stopped and he is very capable of being elusive, whilst throwing lightning-fast eye-catching combos to win the rounds.

For sure, a victory for Canelo against Krusher shouldn’t be considered a foregone conclusion, but the past-his-prime ready-for-the-taking Kovalev has flaws that the Mexican is very capable of exploiting.