Canelo no longer the big star

Canelo Alvarez has penned in a return to the ring for September in Riyadh as he headlines a card sold as “Mexico against the world”.

Alvarez’s opponent for the bout on 12 September is yet to be confirmed but Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh has said that he will fight for a world title, almost one year to the day since being stunned by Terence Crawford for the undisputed super-middleweight crown.

The event will take place on the Saturday before Mexican Independence Day and will pit a team headed by Alvarez against fighters from the rest of the world.

“The 12th of September, a big, big, big fight, and this will be the first card for Canelo Promotions,” Alalshikh said.

“It will be named ‘Mexico against the world’. All the fighters from the team of Canelo against the world. And (Alvarez) in the main event (for) a world title, and it will be a surprise in Saudi Arabia.”

Canelo has regularly fought in May but Benavidez has taken that slot so is this the changing of the guards and who should he face in September?

he'll take a few more paydays while setting up his promo company

He's been fighting with one foot in the golf cart for years now, being honest. Unfortunately, I think Turki has him tied up but just not sure in what position :-X. Off a major loss, surgery and longest layoff in 8,9 years I just can't see him going right back in with anything but a semi soft touch. Could be wrong. Saw Pacheco mentioned, Mbilli so no idea. But it will in fact center around a belt or two ;D. It's not lost on Canelo that he is standing in the exit door so maybe he finally goes all in. How many does he have left on contract with Turki anyway 1 or 2?

Canelo could try and pick one of the easier alphabet straps but don’t think he can beat young hungry fighters like Sheeraz.

I can see him try and face weaker opponents like Eubanks Jnr.

canelo will probably fight the winner of jose armando resendiz & whoever he ends up fighting

So who is the new cash cow now? Crawford has retired and Benavidez seems to have poor PR management team...and Beterbiev and Bivol are dry to listen to. Usyk is too humble to take on the mantle of the cash cow and face of the sport. Fury is all but done unless he can beat Usyk, which I doubt he can do.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that new guy, Hamzah Sheeraz, has the appearance and likability to be a global star. Something about Sheeraz sparks interest. He can be marketed to be something bigger than life if his team picks up on it and handles him properly.

Shakur Steveson, while he is good, does not give tantalizing fights. Haney has been exposed as a whiner by the way he reacted to that ass-kicking he got from Garcia. lolol.. like he was the first and only fighter who went into the ring against someone roided up. Fact is, he still lost. I'm sure DHL and Floyd went into the ring against roided up guys and still pulled out victories. This is part of the game, unfortunately.

What do you think?

Jessie Benavidez has taken the cinco de mayo date from Canelo so I think he is the new PPV star.