Via Dan Ambrose: Canelo Alvarez coach and manager Eddy Reynoso said they will ask Thabiso Mchunu aside so they can set up a fight with WBC heavyweight champion Ilunga Makabu next May.
‘The Rock’ Mchunu (23-5, 13 KOs), 33 years old is required for WBC cruiser class champion Makabu (28-2, 25 KOs) and he is said to be NOT interested in dodging side to let Canelo challenge for a title before him.
Reynoso plans to try to make a deal with Mchunu to get him to step aside. If he doesn’t choose, Canelo goes the other way.
Reynoso did not say what Canelo’s backup plan would look like, but he did mention wanting to negotiate a trio fight with Gennadiy Golovkin for Mexico if the Kazakhs win their December 29 match against Ryota Murata.
Most boxing fans will agree that they’d rather see Canelo face Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) in the third bout than watch him beat a cruiser class champion. as confusing as Makabu.
Fans have been pushing for Canelo to play a three-part match against Golovkin since 2018, but he was picked to win titles at 168 and 175 in the face of less popular opposition, mainly from Europe. .
Reynoso revealed that he wants to have Canelo fight in the UK, China, Japan and Dubai.
“Currently, we are negotiating with the manager of the champion [Ilunga Makabu]. He has a date in February where he has a mandatory safeguard [against Thabiso Mchunu],” Canelo coach and manager Eddy Reynoso told Matchroom Boxing.
“We will see if we can have a negotiation to take a step aside, and then fight in May. That is what we are planning. We barely started negotiating about it.
“We barely started suggesting that to the WBC. If we can negotiate that, we will move on, and if not, there are other options as well,” Reynoso said.
We’ll see if Reynoso and Canelo can put Mchunu aside, but if they fail, it could work in their favor as boxing fans won’t want to see another Alvarez face off against one. weak champions like Makabu.
It would be fine if this was a respite for Canelo to battle against the likes of David Benavidez, Artur Beterbiev, Joe Smith Jr, Demetrius Andrade, Golovkin and Jermall Charlo.
But what Canelo has done over the past three years is facing the same opposition as Makabu in terms of talent, and he has had an easy time becoming the undisputed champion at 168 and winning the title. world champion at the age of 175 against former champion Sergey Kovalev.
“It was one of the projects that we had, fighting in the UK and fighting in Japan, fighting in China and fighting in Dubai,” Reynoso said of the different countries that Canelo could eventually join.
“That’s what we want to do next in Saul’s career, which is to fight around the world.”
