According to a tweet from Eddie Hearn, Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez will not now be fighting over Mexican Independence day weekend – or in the month of September, period.
As fans know, after talks between Canelo and IBF super-middleweight champ Caleb Plant went sour (the IBF 168 pound belt the only title Canelo needs to see him achieve his goal of ruling as unified champ), talks began with WBA light-heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol.
But all the time, the clock was ticking, and then, with Canelo apparently only interested in fighting Bivol at a catch-weight, time ran out and there will now be no September 18th fight featuring the biggest star in the sport:
“Spoke with @Canelo @CANELOTEAM and the team today. Saul is focused on a return to the ring in November. More news soon,” Hearn put out via his tweet.
So now we wonder who Canelo will fight in November. Bivol may still be very much in the frame (the Russian warrior has said more than once how he would be willing to drop down all the way to 168 for a big fight with Canelo, but that he would need time to do so properly and safely; and with Sept. 18 just six weeks away, this time was simply not there), while it is also possible talks with Plant will resume (Caleb walked away, telling us all how “unreasonable” some of Canelo’s demands were).
Or maybe another guy entirely will be brought in – GGG, perhaps? Hey, we can hope (although the last we heard, Gennady was headed to Japan for a rumble with Ryota Murata). Canelo had been fighting at an active rate, with two fights being tucked under his belt this year with the February win over Avni Yildrim and then the May win over Billy Joe Saunders (that saw the now 31-year-old take the WBO 168 pound strap).
It is to be hoped the November fight (there is no exact date yet) goes ahead, and that it will be against a stellar opponent. Bivol would have made a great foe, and still will. But fans were turned off by the idea of a catch-weight fight. Why can’t Canelo look to add a second 175-pound belt in November?
It is what it is, though, and Canelo, as big as he is, calls the shots the way he wants to call them these days.
