Canelo Alvarez has lined up his next opponent before a punch gets thrown in his Cinco de Mayo battle with Jaime Munguia in Las Vegas.
The Mexican superstar faces compatriot Munguia in a home-country battle this weekend as the world-famous strip in Nevada gets painted green, red, and white. However, despite a tough assignment against a 43-0 ex-world champion, the undisputed 168-pound king has agreed to his next target.
In a Facetime conversation that made its way into the public domain, Jermall Charlo states he is trading blows with Canelo next, with a September date already set for another Vegas showdown. If confirmed by Team Canelo as claimed by the American, the Charlo will occur twelve months after the former pound-for-pound number one defeated Jermall’s brother Jermell.
Canelo easily defeated Jermell over twelve rounds in what some Charlo supporters say was an underprepared super welterweight. Jermell had to fill in for Jermell at last notice after being unable to complete duties due to an outside-of-the-ring situation. According to the man himself, Jermall will get a second chance to earn career-defining money before retirement. Once signed and sealed, Charlo will undoubtedly relinquish his WBC middleweight title, which the World Boxing Council allowed him to keep despite a lack of activity. Last time out, Charlo defeated Jose Benavidez Jr. at the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay. The green and gold strap was not on the line amid calls for Charlo to be stripped or vacate the championship. Charlo weighed 166 pounds plus for the Benavidez clash, with the consensus being that ‘Hit Man’ will never be able to make 160 pounds again.
The next step to decipher is whether Charlo has another warm-up fight. As with September last year, Charlo had plans to face Canelo this weekend. Once again, those forces away from boxing got in the way. Charlo wasn’t ready, and Munguia got drafted to fill the void.
However, Promoter Oscar De La Hoya doesn’t see Munguia as a stop-gap for Canelo. Alvarez’s former promoter believes there will be a change of guard when the final bell rings for Canelo vs Munguia. If the upset happens, it would cost Charlo millions of dollars for the second time in seven months.
Munguia is a live challenger as De La Hoya predicts the end of Canelo’s tenure as the face of the sport.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
