Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez is in the market for his next opponent but comments from trainer Eddy Reynoso unequivocally rule out one man.
This year, the Mexican defended his undisputed super-middleweight status against Jaime Munguia, winning via unanimous decision after scoring one knockdown, before he was stripped of the IBF belt for failure to face mandatory challenger William Scull.
Canelo – who was unfazed by the belt being taken from him and reducing him to unified champion – then beat Puerto Rico’s Edgar Berlanga, also over the distance with one knockdown, in September.
With a regular return expected in May of 2025, talk has turned to who he will face next. Despite demand from fans, it is unlikely to be David Benavidez, who recently moved up to light-heavyweight and will face David Morrell in January.
Dmitry Bivol was top of the list for Alvarez, an attempt to avenge his defeat from 2022, but the Russian recently lost in his undisputed fight to Artur Beterbiev and will likely enter an immediate rematch.
Canelo has also been chased by Terence Crawford, a fellow four-weight champion who would need to pack on 14 pounds for the challenge. That has become more realistic in recent times, but another name in the mix was Chris Eubank Jr.
The Brit was in early negotiations for the fight this year before Berlanga landed the opportunity. Eubank’s promoter, Ben Shalom, had said it wasn’t the right time with his man coming off a long lay-off.
This week, Shalom told Sky Sports that tentative talks had started once more and expressed an interest in staging the fight at England’s national stadium, Wembley.
“For me the two fights for me are Canelo and Conor Benn. We’ve already started small conversations around the Canelo fight. Obviously that [Canelo fight] was close last time. I believe that’s a fight that interests Canelo. You can imagine the press conference in the UK and the US, it would be absolutely huge.
“I think Canelo needs dance partners but he also needs stars. I don’t think his last couple of opponents have been the biggest stars and Chris Eubank Jr’s certainly a big star. If he’s ever going to fight in the UK, that’s the fight and that would sell out Wembley Stadium. That’s No 1 on the list for me.”
Reynoso – who has been in Canelo’s corner since he was 13-years-old ahead of a pro debut two years later – has now responded via Dan Rafael, shutting down the claim entirely.
“It’s totally false. Eubank had his chance to fight Canelo in September and the only thing he did was complicate the negotiations. We will not touch base with him again for a future fight! Whatever I tell you is always true! I don’t like making statements but what I declare is true.”
Eubank joins Dmitry Bivol on the no-go list. Whether Canelo will look to take on a super-middleweight contender in a lesser show or entertain the Crawford mega-fight should become clear soon.
