Canelo Alvarez might have to finally make a mandatory defense of his WBC junior middleweight title, as the sanctioning body is considering making Erislandy Lara the mandatory challenger, and ordering a fight between the two of them.

Lara (17-1-2, 11 KO) was involved in an eliminator in November with Vanes Martirosyan, which ended in a technical draw. Martirosyan passed on a rematch, which led to the organization reportedly making Emanuele Della Rosa the new opponent for Lara, though they now say that European champ Sergey Rabchenko could also be considered for that spot.

It seems unlikely that the WBC would order their beloved Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO) to defend against Lara at this point, unless everyone believes that Lara would be an easier task than, say, Austin Trout, the WBA titlist who is dying to get a crack at Canelo on May 4, when Alvarez will return on the Floyd Mayweather bill. But they're saying it's at least possible, so that's something they said.