Canelo Alvarez is one of boxing’s pound-for-pound greats and he’s now waiting for his next opponent.
Since losing for only the second time in his career to Dmitry Bivol in 2022, Canelo has won his last five fights taking his record to 62-2-2.
The Mexican increased his stunning win tally by beating Edgar Berlanga when he last took to the ring in September this year.
Now, he’s awaiting his latest challenger and talkSPORT.com has taken a look at who he could face next…
Canelo Alvarez next fight
Incredibly, Jake Paul could be Canelo’s next opponent.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer has called the Mexican out on multiple occasions and he is likely to again following his showdown with Mike Tyson.
Paul believes he can dethrone the super-middleweight king and he continues to double down on his intention to face him.
He told UFC star Sean O’Malley on his podcast: “Me versus Canelo at 200lbs for the cruiserweight championship. That makes so much sense.
“Canelo is on his way out or he’s going to want a payday, and I want to show the world all the s*** I’ve been talking about beating Canelo is actually true.”
If Paul beats Tyson, he is going to go all guns blazing for Canelo as he aims to become the ‘face’ of boxing.
He continued: “I’ll have the biggest upset in the sport of boxing, and we will fight to really see who the face is.
“I beat his gate record in Texas, I’m beating ticket sales, I have more followers than him.
“I’m gonna be the new money man. This fight should be for a belt it makes the most sense at cruiserweight.”
Earlier this year, Canelo was heavily against the idea of facing Paul, simply responding: “I’m not interested.”
However, there is always a chance that the huge purse could entice him as he comes closer to the end of his career.
A clash that fans would prefer is Canelo vs Terence Crawford.
Two of boxing’s pound-for-pound superstars meeting would be incredible and a mega-money bout is being targeted for 2025.
HE Turki Alalshikh has it on his list of favoured fights at the start of the year but it is yet to happen with talks ongoing.
It’s a fight that Crawford is desperate for and Eddie Hearn has told talkSPORT that he may retire if it isn’t agreed.
Hearn said in September: “I don’t think Terence Crawford will fight again because I think he’s made really solid money in the last couple of fights.
“And I don’t think he wants to fight Vergil Ortiz, I don’t think he wants to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
“I think the only way Crawford will fight again is against Canelo Alvarez.
“Because he’s got used to that pay bracket and I don’t think that pay bracket exists anymore outside of Canelo Alvarez.”
This is an opinion shared by Saudi boxing chief Alalshikh too.
“I don’t think Crawford will fight anyone except Canelo,” he said. “I think he only wants Canelo.”
Away from Crawford and Paul, the Mexican has also held negotiations with Chris Eubank Jr but talks fell through after the Brit priced himself out of a fight.
However, they were then said to have been reignited – at least until Alvarez’s manager and trainer Eddy Reynoso confirmed his stance.
“It’s totally false,” Reynoso said. “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.”
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Fight Odds:
Jake Paul – 4/9
Mike Tyson – 9/4
Draw – 9/1
*odds subject to change
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