Canelo Alvarez poised to fight Britain’s Callum Smith
Canelo Alvarez is in negotiations to fight one of Britain’s finest in Super-middleweight champion Callum Smith.
It is looking like the anticipated matchup between Saul “Canelo” Álvarez and Callum Smith will take place in December 2020. Smith has been vying for a chance to take out Canelo for a while now, and it is looking like his wish will be granted before the year is over.
Canelo was recently released from his lucrative contract with Golden Boy Promotions and the sports streaming service DAZN. Canelo exited the deal, which was originally for $365 million across eleven fights, amid a civil lawsuit. Canelo and his lawyers argued that DAZN and Golden Boy Promotions violated their contract after repeated failures to agree on the boxer’s upcoming opponent.
Smith is only the most recent fighter who was meant to fight Canelo in 2020. The Mexican boxer was initially slated to face WBO Super-Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders in a bout that was to serve as the launch of DAZN’s launch in Latin America, the UK, and over a hundred other countries. The bout fell through after Sanders pulled out due to not having enough time to train for the contest.
Likewise, Canelo’s potential bout against the IBF Super-middleweight champion Caleb Plant also fell through. Nevertheless, Callum Smith came along shortly after and he seems eager to face the 30-year-old former champion. Smith’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes the negotiations are progressing.
“It would be an honor for a fighter I have represented from his professional debut and a great young man in Callum Smith to get this opportunity to fight a pound-for-pound great,” said Hearn. “We are hopeful that fight can be delivered in late December in a difficult environment. It’s difficult times to get these deals moving, but there is definite interest from Alvarez and Smith to get that deal over the line.”
Some see the change from Plant to Smith as a cop-out by Canelo, even though Smith has an undefeated record of 27-0. People believe that Canelo compares more favorably against Smith than he does against Plant, whose style has been compared to Floyd Mayweather, who was responsible for the only blemish on Canelo’s pristine record.