Canelo Alvarez has been advised to face Anthony Joshua at heavyweight rather than take on Oleksandr Usyk at cruiserweight.
Alvarez is preparing to face Gennady Golovkin in a trilogy at 168lb after failing in his bid to move up to light-heavyweight and become world champion again after losing to Dmitry Bivol. Despite suffering a devastating second career defeat to Bivol after making the seven-pound switch, Alvarez has continued to tease a step up to cruiserweight to take on Usyk in a future bout after his win over Joshua.
Usyk has also suggested he would be open to the fight with Alvarez, but is expected to first prioritise a shot at the undisputed heavyweight titles against Tyson Fury. However the Mexican star's former conqueror Bivol believes a heavyweight clash with Joshua would be a better fight.
“Canelo vs Usyk? I think a better fight is Canelo vs Joshua, it would be better... much more,” Bivol said in an interview with iFL TV before laughing. It would be a hugely unlikely fight given the huge size difference between the pair with Alvarez currently weighing 168lb.
Joshua weighed in for his rematch defeat to Usyk at 244lb which represents a difference of 76lb if the pair were to share the ring. Joshua also stands at six feet six inches which is 10 inches taller than Alvarez who stands at five feet eight inches tall. Although a fight is highly unlikely, Hearn does promote both Alvarez and Joshua and a fight could easily be mate if it was ever seriously on the table.
Hearn has previously suggested that Alvarez would be open to a switch to heavyweight, and is open to stepping up to the blue-riband division to face anyone. “When we talk about mindset and winning, he genuinely believes he can beat Oleksandr Usyk for the world heavyweight title," Hearn said previously about Alvarez's pursuit.
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“He said to me ‘if you can make that fight at one pound above cruiserweight [200lbs] I will beat him’.” A more realistic option could be to challenge Usyk who is smaller than Joshua and made the step-up to heavyweight from cruiserweight after reigning as undisputed champion.
Usyk would represent a huge challenge for Alvarez having never been defeated in his career and has shown he is able to outbox a number of opponents irrespective of size. However the Ukrainian has admitted he would accept the fight as it would likely represent a lucrative payday for the pair.
“To fight Canelo Alvarez, I would have to lose 12kg. It will be a freak fight," he told Parimatch before his recent victory over Joshua last month. “I think firstly I need to do what I have in mind in the heavyweight division, and then maybe arrange such a fight. But the fight with Canelo Alvarez potentially involves big money, so I’m not ruling out the possibility that it will happen.”
