Canelo named as potential opponent for new world champion’s first defence

Canelo Alvarez is seemingly inching closer towards securing an immediate world title shot following his points defeat to Terence Crawford last year.

The 35-year-old lost his undisputed super-middleweight crown in September, with Crawford claiming a unanimous decision victory after moving up two weight classes.

But while ‘Bud’ announced his retirement several months later, Canelo has opted to remain in the sport for a little while longer.

It was announced by Turki Alalshikh last month, in fact, that the Mexican will headline a card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this September.

Along with that, Alalshikh added that Canelo is set to face one of the champions at 168lbs, presenting him with an opportunity to reclaim one of his titles.

As it stands, the only current male super-middleweight world champions are Christian Mbilli and Jose Armando Resendiz, with the WBO and IBF titles remaining vacant following Crawford’s departure.

And, of the two, WBC champion Mbilli is perhaps the obvious candidate for a Canelo clash, given his fan-friendly style and Alvarez’s traditionally productive relationship with the WBC.

The unbeaten Frenchman comes off a 10-round draw with Lester Martinez, featuring on the undercard of Canelo-Crawford, which saw Mbilli retain his WBC ‘interim’ strap.

Since then, the sanctioning body has elevated him from ‘interim’ to full world champion, with the 30-year-old now searching for a worthy challenger to defend his title against.

Speaking with Sky Sports, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman named Alvarez, among others, as a possible option.

“We’re going to address the situation in the following weeks to see what is coming up for Mbilli and the division.

“Of course, Canelo, [Jaime] Munguia, Lester Martinez, Luka Plantic – there are so many fighters who can make great fights for the champion.”

Should he secure a fight with Mbilli, then this would be Canelo’s first outing since his defeat to Crawford.