By Dan Ambrose: Bob Arum says he spoke with Canelo Alvarez just lately about him presumably dealing with IBF/WBC gentle heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev subsequent, and he would possibly do it.
Arum states that Canelo instructed him it’s a “good chance” he may transfer as much as 175 to tackle the unbeaten Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs).
Whether or not Canelo makes that transfer will rely on his coach Eddy Reynoso, says Arum.
If Reynoso believes that Canelo can win that combat towards Beterbiev, he’ll give him the inexperienced gentle to take it. If not, it signifies that he doesn’t suppose he’s able to face the gifted Russian.
Curiously, two years in the past, when Canelo was preventing the pale previous his prime Sergey Kovalev in 2019, Reynoso was requested why they’d chosen him over Beterbiev, and he mentioned he believed that ‘Kovalev was the very best fighter at 175.
You may take that remark from Reynoso again then to point that he didn’t really feel that Canelo was prepared for Beterbiev.
If Reynoso chooses to have Canelo combat a special gentle heavyweight or WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, you should assume that he doesn’t imagine he’s prepared for Beterbiev but.
Beterbiev is dealing with Marcus Browne (24-1, 16 KOs) on December seventeenth on the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Presumably, if Beterbiev seems overly spectacular in that combat, it’s attainable that Reynoso received’t give Canelo the inexperienced gentle to combat him.
But when Reynoso needs Canelo to obtain any credit score for preventing Beterbiev, he’s going to want to do it quickly.
The 2-time Russian Olympian Beterbiev will likely be turning 37 quickly, and he would possibly find yourself shedding to one in every of his contenders eventually. If Reynoso drags his ft till Beterbiev is 40, it will be seen as him and Canelo being opportunists.
REYNOSO WILL DECIDE
“Canelo is blessed with an amazing boxing man as his coach, Eddie Reynoso,” mentioned Bob Arum to Struggle Hub TV. “If Eddie OKs the combat, which means he believes Canelo has the expertise to beat Beterbiev.
“If Eddie doesn’t Okay the combat, it means Canelo isn’t prepared for Beterbiev, and 175 for a puncher like Beterbiev could also be a bridge too far.
“So, I don’t know if he’s fascinated by it. Canelo sat subsequent to me on the [Oscar] Valdez combat as a result of they’re in the identical camp, and I believe he indicated to me that Beterbiev can be a very good chance.
“Whether or not it’s subsequent or the longer term, I don’t know. Beterbiev is preventing on the seventeenth of December in Montreal towards Marcus Browne, the #1 contender.
“However Beterbiev would need to make that match [with Canelo] clearly. I don’t know,” mentioned Arum when requested if Beterbiev beats Canelo.
“Pay attention, the one man that is aware of, and he can’t essentially predict the result, is Eddy Reynoso.
“So far as Canelo is anxious, not even he is aware of [if he can beat Beterbiev] as a result of he’s a fighter, and he would in all probability conform to combat Tyson Fury.
“I might take a look at gentle heavyweights like Joe Smith, Beterbiev,” mentioned Arum when requested who he would match Canelo towards if he promoted him.
“A man that’s preventing at 160, however he may combat at 168, who I imagine can be the hardest opponent at 160 and 168, is the child that’s preventing in November on the night time earlier than is Zhanibek [Alimkhanuly], the Kazakhistan boy. He’s an actual tremendous expertise, and so they’re robust guys. Golovkin is a Kazakh,” mentioned Arum.
It positive can be good for Reynoso to offer Canelo the greenlight already as a result of he’s burned by means of three years of his profession beating weak 168-lb champions. Followers didn’t ask Canelo to attempt to unify the tremendous middleweight division.
That was him selecting to choose the lower-hanging fruit by opting to attempt to turn out to be the undisputed 168-lb champion in a division with three weak champions in Rocky Fielding, Callum Smith, and Billy Joe Saunders.
The fourth champion is Caleb Plant, and he’s not thought-about on the identical degree as David Benavidez.
So far as southpaw Zhanibek [Alimkhanuly goes, I doubt he can beat Canelo because he doesn’t have the experience.
Zhanibek has a very low punch output, and he doesn’t fight often. Zhanibek has fought just twice in the last two years, and the best guy he’s faced as a pro is Rob Brant.
Zhanibek doesn’t have the experience and is not active enough to beat Canelo. There’s no chance of Zhanibek getting a fight against Canelo because he doesn’t fight often enough and is in the wrong weight class.
For Zhanibik to have a chance of one day facing Canelo, he’ll need to move up to 168 and star fighting three to four times a year against notable opposition. Zhanibek can’t keep fighting obscure guys if he wants to fight Canelo.
ARUM: CANELO IS UNBEATABLE AT 160 & 168
“I don’t think anybody at 160 or 168 beats Canelo, but Caleb Plant is a decent fighter; he’s got a lot of skills,” said Arum.
“He’s [Plant] going to offer Canelo a combat. I believe it’ll be an entertaining combat, however I have to say, in my opinion, there’s just one winner, and that’s Canelo. However Plant is an efficient opponent for Canelo, and he’ll give him a combat.
“He’s [Canelo] one of many best Mexican fighters ever. Whether or not the best stays to be seen, however actually, he belongs in the identical class as the nice Chavez. There’s no query about it in my thoughts.
“Canelo is the very best of his technology, and he and Chavez fought at completely different weights, however he actually deserves to be in the identical class of greatness as Chavez does,” mentioned Arum.
Canelo just isn’t unbeatable at 160and 168, as we noticed together with his two fights with Gennadiy Golovkin. David Benavidez and David Morrell would probably beat Canelo
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Learn: Golovkin and Ryota Murata set for 160-lb unification on Dec.29th in Saitama, Japan
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