4 Best Opponents for Canelo Alvarez's Next Fight

Welcome back to Canelo Land.

The pay-per-view stalwart and incumbent super middleweight champion was back on his Cinco de Mayo stage Saturday night in Las Vegas and performed as usual, scoring a knockdown and pounding out a wide decision over previously unbeaten Jaime Munguia.

It was a fourth straight victory since his most recent loss, which had come nearly two years to the day in the same T-Mobile Arena venue when he climbed to 175 pounds to fight Dmitry Bivol. He'd finished a trilogy with Gennady Golovkin and handled pretenders John Ryder and Jermell Charlo in the meantime, and Saturday's win bumped him to 61-2-2 as a pro.

And afterward, though fan and media flags were mostly blowing in one direction when it came to naming a next foe, Alvarez took a defiant tack with interviewer Jim Gray,

"At this point, everybody's asking for everything," he said. "When I fought with Lara, Trout, Miguel Cotto, Mayweather, Billy Joe Saunders. Everybody said I'm not gonna fight them and I fought all of them. So right now I can ask whatever I want and I can do whatever I want."

In today's environment, he's not wrong.

This makes it a unique challenge to forecast who actually will be next come the next time he appears, but it's a challenge the B/R combat staff happily accepted while divvying the possibilities into who could be and probably will be next, who we wish would be next, and which choice would break the internet.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the comments.

Search up a video of Christian Mbilli and see what you notice.

He jabs. He hooks. He crosses. He blocks. He ducks.

But you know what he never does, or at least has rarely done while racking up 26 straight victories and 22 KOs since turning pro seven years ago?

He doesn't back up.

And against a guy like Canelo Alvarez, that's must-see TV.

The 29-year-old from Cameroon has ascended to high-end contender status with the WBC, which had him slotted second behind Jaime Munguia in its mid-April rankings.

The perch had his co-promoter, Bob Arum, working behind the scenes to set up a would-be match as the Alvarez-Munguia fight approached.

"(Co-promoter) Camille (Estephan) feels the same way we do—no more messing around, let's go after the brass golden ring," he told Boxing Scene. "And that's what we're going to do."

If it happens, count on Randy Gordon to be in the front row.

"He's a 168-pound Joe Frazier," the SiriusXM host told Bleacher Report. "Most exciting fighter at 168."

When it comes to this one, we're as on the record as on the record can be.

Though cases can be made for others based on exciting styles or promotional alignments or prurient competitive interest, there's no fighter more deserving of an in-ring audience with Canelo than David Benavidez.

He's unbeaten in 28 fights, has KO'd 24 opponents, has beaten four world championship claimants, and has been elevated to mandatory contender status by the WBC.

In other words, he's done everything he can do to earn his position alongside the champ.

But, based on Alvarez's own noncommittal words, it still may not be enough.

"We'll see," he replied at Saturday's post-fight press conference to a direct question asking whether he'll fight Benavidez anytime soon. "I'm gonna rest and talk with my team. And like I said, everybody's asking for everything. And I always did it. I always fight with everybody you're asking for. But right now I'm in the position I can ask, too. I can do whatever I want.

"So we'll see what happens next."

You can't always get what you want.

And in this case, likely, we won't get what we need either.

The guess around the press room and on social media in Saturday's aftermath was that Edgar Berlanga—thanks to a No. 1 WBA ranking, high-end promotional affiliations, and little in the way of prominent opposition—will be next in Canelo's line come September.

The 26-year-old Puerto Rican earned a titillating name thanks to a career-starting streak of 16 straight first-round KOs from 2016 through 2020. He's advanced his record to 22-0 since but has added just one more KO while beating foes generously labeled as pedestrian.

In fact, though precisely none of the men he's met are among the WBA's top-15 contenders, he was installed by the organization as its mandatory challenger for Alvarez when previous mandatory David Morrell Jr. announced a move to light heavyweight.

Berlanga is promoted by Eddie Hearn's Matchroom conglomerate, which has worked with Canelo on past fights and maintains a cordial relationship.

"It's only a matter of time," Hearn said after Berlanga's February win over Padraig McCrory. "Puerto Rico against Mexico. That will be a huge event."

This is the spot normally reserved for the likes of Jake Paul.

But while the social media agitator/boxing newbie has frequently called Canelo's name after beating ex-NBA players, ex-MMA fighters and others who'd had no business anywhere near a professional boxing ring, we're ceding it to a real opponent this time around.

Terence Crawford is a universal choice as one of the sport's most elite fighters given a pristine 40-0 record that's yielded 31 KOs and championships in three weight classes, including full-bore undisputed status at both 140 and 147 pounds.

The popular Nebraskan will continue to chase greatness with a bid for a fourth title, at 154 pounds, in early August, but he's been publicly vocal about the prospect of a multi-rung climb to face Alvarez in the past and he's got believers among guys who know what they're seeing.

"My opinion," said lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, "I already told y'all. I think that Bud outboxes the sh-t out of Canelo."

Count us in among those who'd like to see him try.