Canelo has shortlist of three or four fighters as he enters talks to finalise next opponent

What's next for Saul “Canelo” Alvarez?

According to recent comments from Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya, four-weight world champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (53-1-2) could next be fighting anywhere between middleweight to light-heavyweight in Germany, Japan or the USA.

With lots of options available to arguably boxing's biggest star in the world right now, talks are due to kick off within the next fortnight, aiming to culminate in a big fight to take place on Cinco de Mayo.

Oscar stated, “Saul's in a position where he can pick and chose who he wants to fight. Canelo's a fighter who always wants to fight the best, because he wants to challenge himself. Stepping up to 175 pounds wasn't an easy task and he passed with flying colors. We will speak to his camp and discuss the possibilities. But I can assure you that the next guy he fights will be another difficult task, it will be another historical fight that he'll give us.

“It would be difficult to get back to 160 pounds. It would be like when I fought Bernard Hopkins and then when I came back down to 147 to fight Manny Pacquaio. It could make you a weak fighter. But Saul knows what he's doing. He has a great team and a great trainer. So only he knows how his body feels.  When we sit down with their team we will iron out an opponent and we'll announce soon.”

Despite the mystery, one thing that's already been ascertained is that British boxer Billy Joe Saunders, who holds the WBO World super-middleweight title, is not a frontrunner in the race. 

"You know, there are so many options and I would hate to throw a name out there…I’ll tell you one thing: Saunders is not the frontrunner, that’s for sure.

“I have no idea who threw that name out there, but once we nail a name down, I’ll have an announcement shortly.”

Eric Gomez, who's known as an astute and tough negotiator said: “Canelo's in a special position. He can still make 160 easily, make 168 or move back up to 175. We're working on different options for him and he`ll decide what he wants to do. I can't say who because we're in negotiations and it could mess them up, but there's three or four guys we're looking at.”

When asked if Canelo's as tough a negotiator himself as he is up in the ring, Eric smiles and replies: “No… he's very easy to work with when it comes to that, because he always wants to fight the top guys. He wants to make history. He' s always said this himself. Etching his name with the greats.

“We've had him at his peak for a while now, in the last five years. He's a little older now, but he maintains himself, kind of like Bernard Hopkins. Bernard had that discipline and when he trained he worked hard to look after his body, and Canelo is very similar. He's a consummate pro.”