Boxing’s biggest cash cow may be taking his show on the road.
Two-division titleholder Canelo Alvarez was in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia to support countryman Andy Ruiz Jr. in his highly anticipated heavyweight rematch against Anthony Joshua, who wound up winning a wide decision to regain his heavyweight titles.
Alvarez, who is coming off a 11th round knockout of Sergey Kovalev to win a light heavyweight title, gave an interview during the DAZN broadcast discussing his plans. He, for one, is not opposed to staging his next fight in the Arabian desert.
“Of course, why not?” Alvarez said. “It’s an excellent opportunity. Of course, I can see myself fighting anywhere in the world.”
Alvarez has fought exclusively in North America, with the majority of his fights taking place in Las Vegas. He has also fought in San Antonio and New York City.
Alvarez continued: “I can see myself fighting here (Saudi Arabia), fighting in Japan, in England. Believe me, this is something. What a moment it would be for my career to fight anywhere in the world for the right opportunity.”
In Japan, Alvarez has a potentially lucrative matchup against domestic middleweight star Ryota Murata. Previously, there were talks about Alvarez’s arch-nemesis Gennadiy Golovkin facing Murata at the Tokyo Dome but nothing ever materialized. An Alvarez-Murata fight would be even bigger.
In England, there are options with super middleweights Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders, although the former is probably a more marketable fight. Smith’s brain trust have been vocal about facing Alvarez.