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Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider
LAS VEGAS — Canelo Alvarez crashed one of his patented left hooks into Edgar Berlanga‘s chin in Round 3 as the major underdog fell to the mat.
Berlanga banged his gloves together in frustration and collected himself. He then proceeded to pump his jab from the outside, eschewing the right hand that made a name for himself in the first place.
Berlanga scored a moral victory, perhaps, in reaching the final bell. For Canelo, it’s a fourth consecutive fight where he floored his opponent but settled for a decision victory.
Regardless, Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) didn’t seem bothered by the fact he hasn’t scored a KO since November 2021.
“Now what are they gonna say?” Alvarez, 34, said during his post-fight interview. “I fight younger fighters. They say I fight older fighters. They always talk. … My experience, my talent, my hard work, my intelligence, everything together [makes me the best].”
What they may say: Canelo was a -1600 favorite and after a string of victories over boxers who are decidedly not on his level since his loss to Dmitry Bivol in May 2022, he needs a challenge. Fortunately, there are options to cure what ails boxing’s top star. One such fighter who hopes to land the assignment is Terence Crawford, who was ringside.
Crawford likened his quest to move up for a shot at Canelo to the 1983 Marvin Hagler-Robert Duran fight (Duran moved up from 154 pounds). “Except the smaller guy wins this fight,” Crawford told ESPN on Thursday.
Canelo’s next fight could be a stark departure from his last four where he was heavily favored to win. It could be a return to the elite level of competition, his toughest bout since he was defeated by Bivol. The potential assignment for Alvarez’s expected return on Cinco De Mayo weekend next year? A rematch against Bivol, if all goes according to plan.
Bivol routed Canelo in a light heavyweight title defense despite the close margins on the scorecards (115-113 three times). And if Bivol can beat Artur Beterbiev in a heavily anticipated coin-flip fight for the undisputed light heavyweight championship on Oct. 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Alvarez told ESPN on Wednesday he’s interested in a rematch next.
Alvarez is motivated, he said, to exact revenge on the only man to defeat him besides Floyd Mayweather throughout his 66 pro fights. The Mexican icon is also enthused at the idea of becoming the undisputed champion in a second weight class.
“Nothing was right in that fight for me [vs. Bivol],” Alvarez said. Canelo dealt with a left wrist injury and later underwent surgery following his September 2022 win in his third meeting with Gennadiy Golovkin.
With his surgically repaired lead hand, Canelo scored a knockdown in his three subsequent fights (John Ryder, Jermell Charlo and Jaime Munguia) before he scored a knockdown of Berlanga on Saturday. All four opponents, though, were given little chance to beat Canelo, but if Canelo does fight Bivol again, he’ll find himself in rare territory as the underdog.
“I think that fight I shouldn’t lose but it is what it is,” Alvarez said. He added that he’s motivated by the opportunity to fight Bivol “being there 100%.” Of course, Bivol first needs to defeat Beterbiev, boxing’s only champion with a 100% KO ratio; Bivol is a -125 favorite, per ESPN BET.
“He has that ability to [beat Beterbiev],” Canelo said, adding that he’s only interested in Bivol if he wins, not Beterbiev. ” … Beterbiev is a strong fighter, he’s a good fighter, too, and it’s going to be a hard fight.”
There’s another obstacle, though. Alvarez expressed interest in a Bivol rematch following his May 2023 win over Ryder but only at 175 pounds (where the first encounter took place.) Bivol insisted on a return bout at 168 pounds for Alvarez’s undisputed super middleweight championship.
It could present a sticking point again, though Alvarez represents Bivol’s biggest payday available, as Canelo does for every potential opponent.
“I need motivation,” Bivol, ESPN’s No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer, told ESPN last summer. “And fight against him, it’s not easy fight. And I already beat him at 175. Why should I fight him again? Well, let’s try for his belt, but he doesn’t want this fight [at 168] and I don’t care.
“Of course he feels inside of him that he won that fight. But we’re athletes. We every time could find excuses and we every time could find reasons why it happened. Every time when I finish my fight I think about, oh, I could fight better but I didn’t because that and this because I felt pain in my leg or I got the bad breakfast or something else.”
Alvarez has found reasons to deny a fight with the volume-punching and longtime mandatory challenger David Benavidez, who has long lobbied for a matchup with Canelo. Benavidez finally moved up to 175 pounds in June and wasn’t impressive in a win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk, though Benavidez dealt with a torn hand ligament.
Canelo continues to express no interest in a meeting with Benavidez.
“He’s fighting in his weight class, 175, and he don’t look like he always [looks] because it’s different when you’re fighting in your weight class,” Alvarez said.
The other appealing option for Canelo is Crawford, ESPN’s No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer. The former undisputed welterweight champion made his 154-pound debut with a decision victory over Ismail Madrimov last month, but he was far from dominant against a vastly underrated boxer who reigned as junior middleweight champion.
The 37-year-old Crawford continues to campaign for a shot at Canelo at the 168-pound weight limit though he still remains two weight classes (or 14 pounds) below Alvarez. While there’s plenty of doubt regarding Crawford’s ability to contend with Canelo’s size advantage, there’s no doubt surrounding Crawford’s talent nor the commercial viability of the event.
A Canelo-Crawford fight is arguably the biggest in boxing below heavyweight, and it’s one Crawford seeks beyond the immense payday it would present.
“I feel like it’s a legacy fight and I feel like it’s a fight that I can actually win,” said Crawford. “I’ve always been a smaller guy. In every weight class that I ever competed in, everybody always said I was too small for this guy, too small for that guy, and I always been successful in the fight. Being bigger don’t win fights. So my skills pay the bills and my skills got me this far.
“I think it would tell the [who is the] No. 1 guy … in the post-Mayweather era, who’s the king of kings.”
Crawford hasn’t come all that close to losing yet, though Madrimov gave him his toughest fight. He’s sliced through the weight classes after winning his first championship at lightweight, becoming undisputed champion at junior welterweight and welterweight. And, as Crawford points out, he’s both taller than Canelo with a longer reach (½ inch in height and 3½ in reach).
Still, Canelo is far larger than stature with the punching power to match. Tenn of Canelo’s last 13 fights were contested at 168 pounds — two at 175 and one at 160. The last time Canelo competed at 154 pounds? September 2016.
“If I beat him, nobody’s going to say, ‘Oh, he beat Crawford because [Canelo’s] a good fighter,” Canelo said. “He’s pound-for-pound great, too, but he’s smaller. You’re going to start seeing ‘but he’s small and this.’ But if the money’s right, why not, in this moment in my career.”
Canelo is referring to his legacy that’s already secured as one of the all-time greats and the longtime face of the sport. He earns upward of $35 million every time he steps through the ropes, and there’s nothing left for him to prove.
He still has the hunger to compete and train hard, though, and at some point soon, he’ll surely want to challenge himself. That means a fight with either Bivol or Crawford next.
“I already fight the best out there and I’m still doing good things,” Canelo said. “I’m the best in the world.”