Canelo Alvarez closing in on Gennaidy Golovkin trilogy, Dmitry Bivol title fight

Canelo Alvarez closing in on Gennaidy Golovkin trilogy, Dmitry Bivol title fight

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With numerous opponents waiting in line to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the Mexican superstar might have a plan in place for a busy 2022. That includes another fight at light heavyweight and the long-requested trilogy fight against Gennadiy Golovkin.

ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reported Wednesday that Alvarez is finalizing a two-fight, $85 million contract with Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn. One fight would be against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in May; the other would be against Golovkin in September. The fight vs. GGG depends on Alvarez beating Bivol and Golovkin beating Ryota Murata this year.

Alvarez recently unified the super middleweight division in just 11 months. There have been rumors of him facing WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu and WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo. His team has also teased him fighting at heavyweight. The last time Alvarez competed at light heavyweight was in November 2019. He beat Sergey Kovalev for the WBO title.

MORE: Is Canelo interested in fighting at heavyweight?

The $85 million from Matchroom would be guaranteed. There is also a $45 million offer from Premier Boxing Champions for Alvarez to fight Charlo. Per ESPN, that offer can still come into play if something were to happen during negotiations between Alvarez and Bivol.

Bivol made his pro debut in 2014. He beat Felix Valera in 2016 to win the interim WBA light heavyweight title. After being promoted to Regular champion in 2017, he has defended the belt five times, three of them as Super champion. His last fight was a win over Umar Salamov in December.

Alvarez and Golovkin fought to a draw in 2017. Alvarez won the rematch in 2018 via majority decision. Since then, he has won eight in a row, while Golovkin has won three in a row. Golovkin’s last fight was a win over Kamil Szeremeta in December 2020. Injuries and other factors have led to a delay in his return fight against Ryota Murata. The trilogy bout with Alvarez will be for the WBA, IBF and IBO middleweight titles.

MORE: Exclusive: Hearn confirms Canelo vs. GGG 3 talks

Despite the difference in how their careers have gone, there is still interest in Canelo vs. Golovkin 3. Their first fight had more than 1.3 million pay-per-view buys ($110 million in revenue) and their second fight reached 1.1 million PPV buys ($120 million in revenue).


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