Canelo Alvarez is open to fighting heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk - "I like that type of challenge"
Canelo Alvarez was rumored to face Oleksandr Usyk a few months back. However, Alvarez's loss against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol wiped out the budding interest in the fight.
Canelo has now come down to the super-middleweight division, where he will defend his undisputed status against Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17 in Las Vegas.
Despite his recent loss, Canelo Alvarez is still open to fighting Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk. The Mexican boxer recently connected with FightHype. Speaking about the Oleksandr Usyk fight, he said:
"It's difficult, but I don't care. I like that type of challenge, I don't care. It's going to be difficult I know, but I love boxing. I love being in that type of situation.”
Watch the full interview below:
Oleksandr Usyk, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion, has put the entire heavyweight division on notice by defeating Anthony Joshua twice in a row. He now holds the WBO, IBF, WBA, IBO, and Ring titles and is only short of the WBC belt to become the only undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.
According to reports, WBC champion Tyson Fury will return in February 2023 to face Oleksandr Usyk for all the marbles.
Meanwhile, Canelo also wants to rematch Dmitry Bivol if the WBA 175 lbs champion successfully defends his belt against Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez this November.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Oleksandr Usyk will require a lot of weight changes
Alvarez has never gone above the light heavyweight category and Usyk is a natural cruiserweight who is currently competing in the heavyweight division. A fight between the two would probably require both sides to weigh-in at catchweight, say, somewhere around 180 lbs. It is highly debatable who would benefit in that case: the naturally bigger but drained Usyk or 'Saul,' who wouldn't have to go through the grueling process of cutting weight.
Notably, 'The Cat' looked supremely skilled in his latest fight against Anthony Joshua.
Canelo Alvarez knocked out Sergey Kovalev at 175 lbs to claim the WBO belt in 2019. Nevertheless, he failed to do so against Bivol.
Oleksandr Usyk's southpaw stance may present problems to Canelo who might struggle to retain his speed at a higher weight. The matchup, however, would likely be a PPV hit and guarantee a big payday for both champions.