Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is expected to fight twice this year and reports indicated that his camp already has possible opponents in mind. The reigning World Boxing Council middleweight champion could face Liam Smith in May before colliding with fellow superstar Gennady Golovkin in September.
Promoter Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions told BoxNation that Smith, who is the reigning World Boxing Organization super welterweight champion, received an offer to face Alvarez in a title unification bout.
"We're contemplating an offer from Alvarez," Warren said via BoxingScene. "We're looking at that, we'll think about it and see where we go. We'll see."
Smith, who owns a 22-0-1 record with 12 knockout victories, is coming off a seventh-round knockout win against Kilrain Kelly last month. The 27-year-old has not faced a big-name fighter before, which means a showdown with Canelo will be the biggest break of his professional boxing career.
However, Warren clarified that the fight against Canelo is not yet set in stone. The promoter pointed out that they will study their options carefully because they also received offers from different camps.
"I'm not going to get in too much detail," Warren said, referring to their options. "It's a big fight for Liam and there's other big fights out there for him, so we've got quite a few things that we're looking at at the moment."
If the two camps eventually find a common ground, the Canelo-Smith title unification bout will likely take place on Cinco de Mayo weekend on May 7 at the newly-built Las Vegas Arena.
And if Canelo successfully defends his title in May, Alvarez could face Golovkin in September. Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya hinted that Canelo will have no choice but to defend his WBC middleweight title against Golovkin, who is the mandatory challenger to Canelo's title.
"Obviously and inevitably this fight between Saul and Gennady is going to happen, no matter what and we are confident that it will take place," De La Hoya told reporters.
Golovkin, who holds a perfect 34-0 record with 31 knockout victories, is the reigning International Boxing Organization, World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation middleweight champion. The 33-year-old Kazakh has knocked out his last 21 foes, including Martin Murray, Willie Monroe Jr. and David Lemieux last year.
