Next opponent for Canelo will be on his terms

Middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is looking to set up a fight on September 14 that will air on the streaming platform DAZN, and from all reports, his camp wants to do it on his terms and against someone not named Gennady “GGG” Golovkin.

Let me emphasize, his terms.

This week however, has shown the choices are slowly pulled off the board, and new alternatives not having the same appeal as the matchup that would be the third in the Canelo-GGG series.

Ever since Canelo was slapped with the “Franchise” tag last week by the WBC, the talk was of him moving up weight classes and taking on the likes of 168lbs. champ  Callum Smith and  WBO Light Heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. So far in moving up weight, the competition so now is zero for two.

First, Smith told talkSPORT Monday that he’ll be in action in September against someone else.

“I think a lot of it is just down to Canelo,” said Smith to talkSPORT. “I think he calls the shots.

“He is probably the biggest name in boxing in the minute. Who he wants to fight, he will fight.”

Again, his terms.

Kovalev, on the other hand, was an option as well, but that seems to have been taken off the board after a report from Keith Idec of Boxingscene.com that he received a low-ball offer to take on Alvarez. In the story, Idec stated that the figure was less than half of the low-eight figure guarantee Alvarez’s previous opponent, Daniel Jacobs, made for their middleweight title unification match May 4 in Las Vegas

(If you’re looking to try to get an idea of what that was, Jacobs made a guaranteed purse of $2.5 million per Dan Rafael of ESPN.) Instead, Kovalev is off to finally take on his mandatory challenger Anthony Yarde on August 24 in his native Russia after numerous delays on that fight taking place.

Those would be, Kovalev’s terms.

The last name mentioned is WBO light middleweight champion, Jaime Munguia, who per reports has received an offer for the September clash. What interesting about this if Munguia chooses to accept this Canelo fight, win or lose, he will still retain his WBO crown, as he would have to move up in weight to take on Canelo.

That also is important to considering he is coming off a very controversial victory against Dennis Hogan to retain back in April.  Munguia is co-promoted by Beltran, and Golden Boy Promotions and the site of the fight mentioned could be in Las Vegas, which was holding up negotiations with GGG for their third fight in the first place.

One thing is sure, whoever Canelo is fighting, know that it’s going to be, his terms.