Canelo Alvarez Next Fight: Flame-haired Mexican hero picks up the pieces

Saul Canelo Alvarez lost his undisputed super middleweight championship to Terence 'Bud' Crawford on Saturday, September 13. The blockbuster Netflix headliner came equipped with the sort of twist ending the streamer's dramas are known for.

How does the Mexican icon rebuild from his first defeat at 168lbs? Read on to learn all you need to know about Canelo’s next fight.

Canelo’s days of unchecked ambition appear to be over. There was once fanciful talk of a fight with then-WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu or a possible catchweight meeting with unassailable heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk. But in recent years the red-headed superstar seemed content to dominate the super middleweight division.

Alvarez held at least one version of the super middleweight title perpetually from 2018 to 2025. That time featured title wins at both middleweight and light heavyweight, too. But the generational talent had concentrated solely on the 168lb class since his 2022 loss to Dmitry Bivol in a WBA light heavyweight championship challenge.

That reverse was Canelo’s first since Floyd Mayweather outscored him all the way back in 2013. In the nine years between defeats, Alvarez built a Hall of Fame legacy. Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Sergey Kovalev and Gennady Golovkin were among the men who fell in the 16 fights that bridged his only losses.

Canelo also spent that period making super middleweight history. He defeated Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant to become the first four-belt undisputed kingpin in the division’s history. The win over Scull, who had benefited from the IBF stripping Canelo of his title for not fighting him. But boxing is the ultimate selection box of contradictions. Alvarez fought Scull in his very next fight and became a two-time undisputed champion despite never losing it in the first place.

As with any fighter that has changed the very parameters of the sport, critics tried to pick fault with Canelo. His more recent record had been put under the microscope. Alvarez won six fights after the Bivol disappointment. There are indeed caveats when it comes to the majority of the opponents.

A trilogy-clinching win over great rival Gennady Golovkin was marred for some by the fact ‘GGG’ was 40 and arguably past his best. Britain’s John Ryder was 32-5 going in and seen as being on the slide, though he had picked up recent wins over Daniel Jacobs and Zach Parker. 

Jermell Charlo is an excellent fighter but the then-undisputed super welterweight kingpin climbed two divisions to fight Canelo. More on super welterweights doing just that to fight the Mexican later.

Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga were both undefeated, with the former previously holding a 154lb world title. But some argued that Canelo had taken them on too early in their careers. Both have been beaten since. Your allegiance to Alvarez will inform whether you think the Mexican icon ruined them or they weren't that good to begin with.

But context is important. At time time Canelo fought him, Munguia was hardly plucked from obscurity and also brought an enticing all-Mexican angle. Berlanga was 27 years old and had been beating ranked contenders. Neither was an ingenue. ‘GGG’ and Ryder were perhaps a little long in the tooth and Charlo was undersized, or so we thought. Scull was awful in their fight, but he was an undefeated world champion going in. You can only fight the boxers that the division has to offer.

Given the fact nobody pulls the fans in like Canelo, there is no shortage of boxers, and non-boxers, who have offered to fight him.

In the circus column we have the never-knowingly-sensible Jake Paul. ‘The Problem Child’ exhumed the corpse of Mike Tyson not long ago, making a lot of money for doing so. Canelo has entertained a fight with the YouTube irritant, but says he will only box him once his own in-ring career is over.

Still, Paul continues to demand the fight. A win over Paul would do lots for Canelo’s already-enormous bank balance, but precisely nothing for his legacy. It is obvious that the Mexican would destroy Paul if they met and nothing would be gained from him doing so.

The most vocal legitimate challenger to Canelo’s throne was four-weight world champion Crawford. There was a touch of the Charlo about this match-up, considering the fact ‘Bud’ was the WBA champion at super welterweight going in. But the pull of Canelo-Crawford came from their respective claims to the pound-for-pound throne.

The pound-for-pound throne was the least of the accolades bestowed upon Crawford following his shock win. Along with every major super middleweight belt, there were solid arguments that he, not Naoya Inoue or Oleksandr Usyk, is the outstanding fighter of this generation. That dethroning the bigger, stronger and more-fearsome Canelo was perhaps even enough to elevate 'Bud' above former ring heroes like 'Sugar' Ray Leonard and Floyd Mayweather.

Not for Canelo, those weighty claims. He is now on a rebuilding mission which will shape his path. The fight everyone wants to see him take is a stand-off with David Benavidez. The unbeaten WBC light heavyweight champion actually moved up in weight due to Canelo’s disinterest in fighting him. A former WBC super middleweight king, Benavidez has a mighty resume.

Benavidez is on an excellent run at the moment. In his last four fights he has beaten David Lemieux, Caleb Plant, Demetrius Andrade and Oleksandr Gvozdyk. You could make a very good argument for that being stronger recent competition than Canelo has faced. No wonder the flame-haired wonder is not exactly rushing to Benavidez’s door. 

The super middleweight division is rather short on other big names, partly due to Canelo cutting a swathe through it. Smith is now at light heavyweight. Saunders is all but retired. Golovkin is retired. Charlo will likely resume his career nearer his natural weight. Nobody wants to see Scull in a big fight again after his failure to engage against Alvarez. That leaves slim pickings.

Caleb Plant just lost to Armando Resendiz in a huge upset. Jermall Charlo, twin brother of Jermell, had been set to meet Plant in the aftermath. That fight looks off so maybe Canelo fancies a Charlo double on his record? Jermall is an unbeaten former middleweight champion and is now competing at super middleweight, so the size will not be the issue it was for his smaller brother.  

Unbeaten Frenchman Christian Mbilli is decent, but holds little box office appeal. His stalemate on the Canelo-Crawford card with Lester Martinez perhaps makes him, or indeed the man he drew with, an appealing comeback fight.

Another fight that was long-touted for Canelo was a rematch with Bivol. That one fell apart because Bivol wanted to do it at super middleweight in order to become a two-weight champ, while Alvarez insisted it be held at light heavyweight. This fight has gone from unlikely to impossible in the wake of the Crawford defeat.

 A final suggestion would be a fight with WBA and WBO cruiserweight kingpin Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez. As mentioned before, Canelo has harboured ambitions of a cruiserweight move. ‘Zurdo’ makes commercial sense as a fellow Mexican. He is a former super middleweight, so not oppressively big. ‘Zurdo’ also struggled more with mutual foe Bivol than Canelo did. Not the most precise metric, but certainly food for thought if this bout were to take place. 

Canelo might fancy one more tilt at history and 'Zurdo' provides that. The rest of the division, apart from the foes Alvarez has already overcome, provide little gloss but lots of vulnerability. Canelo has always been matched tough. Few could begrudge him an easy night. That need for an easy night is why a rematch with Crawford should be avoided at all costs.

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Article Updated: Monday, September 15