Canelo Alvarez’s immediate future remains up in the air.
Golden Boy Promotions President Eric Gomez told ESPN.com that Alvarez will fight next on May 2, which was expected. He generally fights on Cinco de Mayo weekend.
Who will he fight? No one is off the table, although Brits Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders seem to be in the mix.
The only thing that seems likely is that Alvarez will fight at or around 168 pounds, although anything is possible in that regard too. He’s coming off a KO victory over Sergey Kovalev to win a 175-pound belt in November but gave it up.
“I personally feel that’s the best weight class, where he’s going to be the best at, at this point in his career,” Gomez said. “That’s the weight class he’s going to feel the best, the strongest. But it doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t go back to light heavyweight, he still has that possibility.
“Giving up the title, yes, it was about the weight, but it wasn’t all about the weight.”
A fight with Smith or Saunders makes sense because it would allow Alvarez to win a 168-pound title and enhance his exposure in the U.K., wherever the fight takes place. Alvarez beat Rocky Fielding to win what the WBA calls its “regular” super middleweight title but Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize that belt.
Of course, Alvarez could also fight Gennadiy Golovkin a third time.
“We’re not ruling out anybody – everybody, even at 160 pounds,” Gomez said. “If he wants to go back to 160 pounds or if there’s any of the champions that want to move up, face him, we’re not ruling anything out.”