Buying or Selling Latest Boxing Fight Rumors

Holiday chaos is officially in the rear-view mirror.

And given recent cold snaps, springtime seems especially distant.

So naturally, when it comes to the boxing world that means it's rumor season.

The ring-roped side of the B/R combat team donned its winter gear and dove headlong into the most recent batch of big-fight buzz, assessing pertinent factors and trying to separate fact from fiction on the way to applying a Buy or Sell tag to each would-be match.

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

If you didn't know, now you know:

It's good to be Canelo Alvarez.

The cinnamon-haired Mexican superstar will celebrate his 20th anniversary as a pro this year and he's been among the sport's movers and shakers for much of that time, particularly since he met Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a pay-per-view blockbuster as a fresh-faced 23-year-old.

That one didn't go his way but most of the rest of them have as he's run his record to 62-2-2 and earned titles in weights from 154 to 175 pounds.

A fighter of his status can make or break any matches he wants and there's been intermittent talk over the last year or so that the next big one on the list will be a generational duel between he and fellow four-division champ Terence Crawford.

Earlier this month, Alvarez said there's "always a chance" it could happen.

It's a fascinating fight that's piqued the B/R team's interest since it was initially discussed and count us in on the idea that 2025 will be the year for it, particularly because it's the biggest possible money-maker on the agenda for either man.

If Saudi boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh wants it, he gets it.

And, even if we have to wait until September, that'll be OK with us.

Yes, this one has a "Buy" tag on it, too.

That means we do believe it'll happen sometime later this year, provided both men get through their penciled-in returns on the same big show in May, but that doesn't mean we're excitedly counting the days until it arrives.

Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia shared a ring together for an anticipated showdown last April in Brooklyn, where Garcia scored three knockdowns and had his foe wobbly several other times on the way to a career-defining majority decision victory.

Until he didn't.

Garcia was popped for the banned substance Ostarine on multiple occasions and the result was ultimately changed to a no-contest that allowed Haney to retain the pristine 31-0 record with which he'd arrived to Barclays Center.

We'll concede that people's excitement for a return match might hinge on whether they believe Garcia's insistence that he did nothing wrong, or, even if he did, just how much redemption they're willing to allow for using a performance enhancer in a sport whose objective is hitting another human being, not a baseball.

It's a high-profile fight involving two young stars in a sport always pining for attention.

So, yes, bottom line, we'll take the gift if it's given to us.

But it's not among the ones we'll be asking for right away.

In case you thought fighting a 58-year-old former heavyweight champion without a win in more than 20 years was the final act of the Jake Paul's in-ring circus, we've got some news:

It wasn't.

The Ohio-bred "Problem Child" has given no indication that his unorthodox chase for boxing legitimacy ended with a barely watchable defeat of Mike Tyson in November, and the latest name to reach the would-be opponent radar these days is Darren Till.

For those unfamiliar with his work, Till is a 32-year-old British mixed martial artist best known for a 12-fight stint in the UFC during which he went 6-5-1, failed in a title try against then-welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and lost his last three fights, most recently in 2022.

He crossed into the boxing ring and scored a sixth-round TKO of former Paul sparring partner Anthony Taylor last weekend in Manchester, which predictably set the drums to beating for a subsequent showdown with Paul, perhaps at a huge English venue this summer.

Could it happen that way? Of course. And, given Paul's penchant for padding the resume with past-prime octagonal competitors, ultimately it probably will.

But given the comparatively low profile and novice ring status of Till these days, it's our guess that Paul will be investigating other more lucrative options, including one Conor McGregor, whom he and his brother Logan just happened to run into on a bus this week.

"I'm gonna slap the head off the two of yous, and (British influencer boxer) KSI," McGregor said. "All three. … Side jobs. A little side job, yeah?"

Let's face it, folks. If those are the options for Paul's next sell job, it's not a fair fight.

Sorry, Darren. Let's just say you're not "Notorious" enough.