Undisputed super middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KO) has been one of boxing’s biggest stars and attractions for more than a decade. At age 33, with a career dating back almost eighteen years, the time for Alvarez to remain one of boxing’s central attractions is probably on the clock.
It’s not over yet.
A reported three-fight deal under the PBC umbrella kicks off this weekend with a showdown against undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KO) on Saturday (Showtime PPV, 8 PM EST).
The fight has its skeptics.
It shouldn’t.
The year-plus layoff for Charlo is worthy of pause but the rise in weight is likely overstated as a factor. Alvarez spent the majority of his career at junior middleweight and, while he’s grown into higher weight classes, he’s certainly not big for 168.
He’s also not been the same fighter in his last three fights he was for the few years prior.
It’s not hard to imagine that we will look back on the true prime of Alvarez as running from the rematch victory over Gennadiy Golovkin through a knockout of Caleb Plant. While the decision in the second Golovkin fight can engender debate, it’s never been as fiery as the debate about their first fight. It was the start of Alvarez’s best competitive run, followed by wins over Daniel Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, along with the aforementioned wins that bookended it all.
Starting with a loss to Dmitry Bivol where Alvarez won far fewer rounds on the cards than the judges rewarded through a pair of solid but not electric wins over Golovkin and John Ryder. It’s enough to make one wonder if we’ve seen the best of times.
History says maybe we haven’t.
The Bivol loss, at light heavyweight, can be written off as biting off more than he could chew. Reports of injuries, if true, could have affected the performances (that were still lopsided wins in his favor).
Fighters have had dips later in their careers and then gone on reminder tours. Could this be the beginning of one for Alvarez?
In 2023, the debate about the best fighter in the world seems to have largely cemented around Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue. That’s unlikely to change for Alvarez this weekend even if he wins big, but a Charlo win could set the table for a run that reinvigorates his standing.
Under the PBC umbrella, the obvious fight is the one jewel missing for Alvarez so far at super middleweight. David Benavidez, particularly after his own win over Plant earlier this year, stands apart from the crowd as the leading contender in the class. If rumors of a fight with Demetrius Andrade turn into reality, that position becomes about a Benavidez-Andrade winner. The demand for Alvarez to fight that winner would be high.
It would also be considered highly dangerous. The skeptics might not give Alvarez full credit for a Charlo win this weekend, but if it led to a fight with his top threat at super middleweight and he could win?
Rumors of Alvarez winding down would be replaced by arguments that not only is he all the way back but that he never went anywhere in the first place.
These next three fights are a chance for Alvarez to add a coda to his resume, one that already places him firmly in Canastota no matter what happens on Saturday.
And Saturday still has to happen. Charlo is a serious opponent, one of the best of Alvarez’s career at any weight. A win is far from guaranteed no matter what shape Alvarez is in. Would anyone feel certain of an Alvarez win if both were fighting at their best at junior middleweight?
If the answer is no, a little movement on the scale shouldn’t grant much certainty here either.
But the star of the show is still Alvarez, and going into the fight it’s hard not to lend the lion’s share of speculation to him. Is this the beginning of a late compelling chapter?
We’ll find out in a few days.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com