Canelo Alvarez’s camp shocked everyone in November when it was reported that it wanted the Mexican champion to jump from super middleweight (168 pounds) all the way to cruiserweight (200 pounds) to fight Ilunga Makabu for the title in an effort to win belts in five different weight classes.
Now, it sounds like that fight may not happen after all, and instead, he may give Houston fight fans the matchup against Jermall Charlo that they’ve been wanting.
ESPN’s boxing reporter Mike Coppinger said Monday that the Canelo and Charlo camps are in talks to make the fight happen.
“I’m not so sure that Canelo will be fighting at cruiserweight or against Makabu,” Coppinger said on ESPN’s State of Boxing. “I’m hearing that it’s much more likely that he’s going to fight Jermall Charlo on Cinco de Mayo. There are talks right now for that fight.”
The 31-year-old Charlo, who grew up in Alief and lives in the Houston area, has been calling out Canelo for a long time. Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) is undefeated and holds the WBC belt at middleweight (160 pounds). The 31-year-old Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) previously held the belt, but he hasn’t fought at that weight class since 2019. When Canelo moved up in weight, the WBC gave the belt to Charlo and classified Canelo as the “franchise champion.”
