Who are Canelo’s possible opponents in September?
At the top of the list is American Caleb Plant (21-0-0, 12 KOs), holder of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super middleweight belt.
Canelo, before his fight against Callum Smith, had said that “I want to unify all the 168-pound titles,” a goal that is 75 percent accomplished. The only thing left in the way is Plant.
In the center of the ring at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Canelo, after dispatching Saunders, sent a clear message of intent: “I’m going for the belt. That’s the plan, to go for the belt? I hope the fight is easy and we give the fans that fight (against Plant)”.
The 28-year-old American fighter has made three successful title defenses and recently revealed to ESPN KNOCKOUT that he would not step into the ring until after the Canelo-Saunders fight, and if the Mexican wins (as he did), he knows that will be his next target.
That matchup, which by all accounts would be the next stop for both champions in September 2021, would have the added value that for the first time in history the super middleweight division would crown an absolute unified champion (WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF).
GGG, the perfect wild card
It is unlikely that Canelo and Plant will deviate from the unification plan. But injuries or other imponderables could occur and the perfect wild card for the Mexican would be to complete the trilogy with Kazakhstan’s Gennadiy Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs).
In fact, for 2020, Canelo had speculated to fight first Saunders and then GGG, but plans fell through because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, it would have to be seen if the Kazakh would be willing to sit at the negotiating table on short notice and accept the likely request to contend at 168 pounds, and not at middleweight, as he did in the previous two fights.
Despite being 39 years old, Golovkin is still the world champion, the opponent, after Floyd Mayweather Jr, who has given the Mexican the most work in his career and the one who would generate the most interest and, therefore, the most profit.
The rest of the card
Everything will depend on Canelo -that’s obvious-, but in this case it will depend on his decision to stay at 168, go down to 160 or go up to 175, where he fought and won against Russian Sergey Kovalev.
At 168, in addition to Andrade, Mexican David Benavidez and American Jermall Charlo, who moves up from 160, raise their hands. In the lightweight division, champions Artur Beterbiev (Russia), Dmitry Bivol (Russia) and Joe Smith (United States) are keeping an eye on him.
“Canelo has no shortage of contenders.
