After Mexican star, the current face of boxing, Canelo Alvarez deals with Edgar Berlanga, as almost everyone feels will be the case on September 14 in Las Vegas, the big question will be – who next for Canelo? And at this current moment in time, it’s not an especially easy question to answer.
Canelo, we know, will not give us the fight we want and have wanted for so long; this is a fight against David Benavidez. So what WILL Canelo give us next? As numerous folks have pointed out, Canelo doesn’t have too many obvious worthy opponents at 168 pounds right now.
As such, and quite amazingly, Chris Eubank Jr is in with a real shot at landing a fight with Canelo next year. Forget that Eubank has done nothing to earn the chance. Speaking of a guy who has earned a shot at Alvarez, WBC and Ring Magazine NO1 ranked super middleweight Christian Mbilli is calling for the next go at Canelo.
Canelo we know is not too bothered about holding onto his collection of belts, with the 34 year old recently vacating his IBF belt because he wasn’t at all interested in fighting the guy at the top of the IBF pile (this being William Scull).
But as Mbilli’s promoter Camile Estephan said when speaking with Ring.TV.com, “Who else if not Mbilli?” Estephan said he truly believes Mbilli, 28-0(23) and coming off a one-sided win over the tougher-than-tough Sergey Derevyanchenko, can beat Canelo. “It’s obvious he should fight Canelo,” Estephan said of Mbilli.
29-year-old Mbilli of France believes it, too. Estephan said if the fight took place in Canada, a huge arena would be required, but that he doesn’t think Canelo will agree to fight Mbilli in Canada – “[not] the first one anyway – if we beat him we’ll give him a rematch, we’ll have it here,” he said.
Mbilli is not only a worthy Canelo foe, the all-action Frenchman is also so much fun to watch, a real fan-favourite. Mbilli, who throws so many punches he can make an opponent feel as though he had been caught in a blizzard, has also shown a chin, great stamina, and some serious hunger and desire.
It won’t be Benavidez next for Canelo, it shouldn’t in any way be Eubank Jr, so who else can it be but Mbilli? Diego Pacheco has been mentioned and the unbeaten contender is calling for a go at Canelo. But Mbilli is surely the best, the most obvious next challenge for Canelo.
Alvarez has had to listen to a lot of criticism from fans who strongly feel he has flat-out ducked Benavidez. If the drum gets banged enough for a fight with Mbilli, with Mbilli remaining unbeaten and never stopping calling Canelo out, the Mexican warrior will surely not let fans down again……will he?
