Who Will Be Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s Next Opponent?

At age 21, Saul Alvarez is an up-and-coming young boxer who has the potential to become one of the greatest fighters that this sport has ever seen in the light middleweight division.

Already in his young career, Alvarez has headlined two separate HBO broadcasts in the last year. After a dominating win against the heavy hitting Kermit Cintron, the boxing world is speculating about who the next opponent for Alvarez could be?

Let’s try to see if we can figure out who his next opponent could be and who his next opponent should be.

There has been widespread speculation that World Boxing Association champion Miguel Cotto is interested in a possible fight with Alvarez.

This clash is reportedly being negotiated but nothing has been finalized yet. If these two fighters do meet, it would make for an incredible power puncher’s duel.

Most likely this fight would take place in New York City and Cotto would be getting the bigger purse share. However, I’m not so sure this fight would take place as I think, and possibly so does Cotto, that Alvarez is a much stronger and technical fighter than he is used to.

At 5’9, Alvarez is a slightly taller than the Cotto, who stands at 5’7; Alvarez could have too much youth and power which means that we could see Cotto take another beating.

I would be surprised if Cotto took this fight because he hasn’t fought a really dangerous opponent since his bout with Manny Pacquiao in 2009. Also, there have been reports that Pacquiao’s wife, Jinkee, has confirmed that a Cotto and Pacquiao rematch is currently being discussed.

Another potential opponent for Alvarez would be Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is looking for an opponent for his scheduled May 5th appearance, should a possible fight against Manny Pacquiao fall through.

This would be a great challenge for the undefeated Alvarez, who would make history by defeating a future Hall-of-Fame fighter in Mayweather.

I doubt very much however that the young Mexican’s camp will allow this contest to take place. Alvarez is a good fighter but I fear he would not do well against a great fighter like Mayweather.

A bout that I hope will happen for Alvarez is a meeting with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., a young and potent fighter that will no doubt give Alvarez a formidable challenge.

If this fight does take place, it would send boxing fans in a frenzy. Both Alvarez and Chavez Jr. have tremendous appeal in the United States as well as in Mexico, which would guarantee a successful pay-per-view campaign.

The chances of this fight taking place are not very good considering that after Chavez Jr. fights Marc Antonio Rubio, his promotional company, Top Rank Inc., will most probably avoid matching Chavez against Alvarez because of past grudges. It is unlikely Bob Arum will look do do any favors to Golden Boy Promotions by putting these two fighters in the ring.

The most probable opponents for Saul Alvarez at this point would either be Paul Williams or Ricardo Mayorga; both of whom have expressed an interest in fighting Alvarez.

For the fight with Mayorga to happen, it would require a considerable cooperation from promoter Don King to find some agreement with regards to purse share for his fighter.

In all likelihood, King will ask for a larger share for Mayorga, something that the Alvarez camp is unlikely to agree to at this time.

For the contest with Williams to take place, Alvarez will have to be patient as Williams is scheduled to meet NobuhiroIshida in the ring on February 18.

Depending on what happens in that clash, it will give us a better indication if a possible fight between Alvarez and Williams will take place any time soon.

On the surface I am hoping for an Alvarez vs. Cotto fight, however being realistic, I am sure that a bout with either Mayorga or Williams is the best bet.

Only time will tell who the next opponent for Alvarez will be but one thing is for sure, his future is looking very bright no matter who his opponent will be in the ring!