To say the Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga press conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Southern California was interesting may be an understatement as the fight went from zero interest to now very curious with regard to the outcome. Berlanga stirred the pot by insulting Canelo, and that led to a domino effect of serious back-and-forth insults and hilarious body gestures from the unified super middleweight champion. Although many enjoyed that, plenty of conversations took place before and after the presser, which led to this latest edition of Around the Curve.
Canelo Isn’t Dancing To The Saudi Tune Just Yet, But What Happens Now?
Hours before the pressor in Beverly Hills, Turki Alalshikh decided to go on X and say that after he discussed the Canelo vs. Terence Crawford fight for February with his people, they decided to move on from it and look at other options for Crawford. With this news making its rounds, the media on hand at the presser asked Canelo what he thought of Alalshikh’s response. Without hesitation, Canelo said that he was communicating with the Saudis on Monday night, but after being pressed about committing to a February fight, he told them he was focused on Berlanga and didn’t want to discuss anything else. Hours after the New York Press Conference and media hit, Canelo said it would take 150 million for him to fight Crawford. After Canelo gave his response, the following day Alalshikh gave his. On Tuesday, Canelo would say that the Saudis wanted an answer right then and there and that he “doesn’t work that way.”
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) August 7, 2024
So what happens now? Eddy Reynoso said earlier in the week that they were considering a fight in Japan around December. If that’s the case, I can see that being against William Skull, who will be fighting for the IBF title soon or a random Japanese fighter as a voluntary defense. If they want to do it really big, they would set it up for New Year’s Eve with Roman ‘Chocolatito Gonzalez” vs. Kosei Tanaka as the co-feature. That right there would be enough to do it at the Toyko Dome.
What does 2025 look like for Canelo? If Canelo doesn’t fight in Japan, or even if he does, I can see next year being a fight with Chris Eubank Jr. first and then one in September against Jermall Charlo or Christian Mbilli. I would not be surprised if Canelo hung up the gloves at the end of 2025, as he will be 35 going on 36 with nothing else to prove. The only other option would be to go to light heavyweight, but it doesn‘t seem to be the best move for him, as seen with the Dmitry Bivol fight. Has the Canelo countdown to retirement began? I think so, and 2025 may be the last year we see him in action.
Crawford Looks To Take Over The Junior Middleweight Division
After his victory over Israil Madrimov, Crawford didn’t seem enthused about the Canelo fight as he likely heard the unified super middleweight champion wouldn’t take the fight with him. Crawford is now a full-fledged junior middleweight and will look to pursue more titles at 154. If Sebastian Fundora vs Errol Spence Jr. gets made, Crawford will have two pieces of the division’s titles. With two remaining, I can see Crawford fighting Tim Tszyu [If Tszyu wins the IBF title] in December as the co-main to Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 2 or his own headline in February. That will give time for Fundora vs Spence to play out, and if it all works out for Crawford and Spence, we could get the rematch between them for all of the titles at 154, just like they did at 147 in July of last year. Wouldn’t that be something?
Teofimo Lopez vs. Brian Norman Jr. In LA?
WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez is a sharp fighter in and out of the ring. He has positioned himself to get more business opportunities than the average fighter and has elevated his brand since consciously taking an approach to do so. After beating Josh Taylor in June 2023, he announced his retirement from the sport only to pull it back minutes before his deadline by the WBO. Shortly after, Lopez requested to be elevated to “super champion, ” meaning he wasn’t required to face a mandatory challenger for 18 months and would have the opportunity to request an immediate fight with the WBO champion at weight classes higher than his own.
This was strategically done so that he could see how the landscape plays out at welterweight and, when the time was right, jump up and challenge the champion to become a three-division champ. Lopez would call for the Crawford fight, but everyone knew Crawford would never return to 147, so it felt like it was just good PR. Recently, rumors began to swirl that Lopez turned down a fight with interim WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr., which has been replaced with Mikaela Mayer vs Sandy Ryan on September 27. Lopez showed up to the Canelo-Berlanga presser and addressed some of the things that have been said on social media.
FightsATW asked Lopez if the rumored October date was more or less when he would step back into the ring. While shrugging his shoulders, Lopez said, “I don’t know anything right now. They (social media) are putting out this thing that I dodged Brian Norman Jr. I didn’t duck or dodge him at all. Look, I love New York, the Madison Square Garden; it’s a great home for me, but I just want to try a different avenue with all due respect and go to LA. I’ll still fight Brian Norman Jr. Crawford just fought so I’m sure he is going to want to take some time with his family. Now that Crawford fought [at 154], Paco [President of the WBO] is elevating Brian Norman Jr as the full champion, so I would fight for a world title. I don’t duck nobody.”
Looking Around the Curve, Lopez will get his shot at Norman Jr. in December during Heisman Night on ESPN. It will likely end up somewhere in Southern California and “The Takeover” will make its SoCal debut.
My Three Cents
Although the fall boxing schedule appears to be light at the moment, plenty of things are happening behind the scenes that could potentially make it one of the most exciting quarters this year. We will have to see what happens, but for now, we will continue to monitor what can be next Around the Curve.
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