Boxing News Roundup (May 7, 2019): Canelo vs Callum Smith, unification possibilities, more

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WBA super middleweight titleholder Callum Smith has a lot of smoke around him right now as a potential opponent for Canelo Alvarez. Smith’s promoter Eddie Hearn obviously would like to do it, Smith himself obviously would like to do it, and Alvarez’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya mentioned him, too.

On Sunday, we talked about Smith as a “darkhorse” for Canelo’s next fight, but even if he’s not next, that matchup is clearly on a lot of minds. Alvarez still wants to fully unify at 160, which would mean facing the Demetrius Andrade-Maciej Sulecki winner, but Smith is the Ring Magazine champion at 168, and the chance to be a double-weight Ring champion might really entice Alvarez, too.

While I personally think Canelo would win that fight, I don’t disagree that it’s really intriguing. Smith is a big super middleweight, and he can punch.

Quick Hits

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

• A lot of talk about unification fights today. Terence Crawford is still calling out the other titleholders at welterweight, which looks good but doesn’t really mean anything. Tevin Farmer wants to unify with Miguel Berchelt at 130, and there are reportedly discussions about a 140-pound unification between Jose Ramirez and Maurice Hooker.
• We took a look at what might be next for IBF light heavyweight titleholder Artur Beterbiev. In short (but read the post, c’mon): there are good fights that could definitely be made without much trouble, but there’s a good chance none of them happen next.
• Andy Ruiz Jr says he’s coming to win, not just cash a check, against Anthony Joshua on June 1. Joshua isn’t looking past Ruiz, either, and also says that the longer Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury wait to face him, the worse it will be for them.
• Speaking of heavyweights, trainer Johnathon Banks doesn’t think Wladimir Klitschko is actually going to fight again. Banks, now working with Gennadiy Golovkin, says the goal with GGG is to get him back on top.
• Speaking of GGG, the Golovkin-Rolls undercard is starting to come together.
• Jarrett Hurd, who faces Julian Williams on Saturday in a FOX main event, doesn’t see starting slow as a problem for him, and to be fair it hasn’t been to date.
• Top Rank announced a couple signings: 2016 Aussie Olympian Daniel Lewis and light heavyweight veteran Sullivan Barrera.
• Welterweight prospect Eimantas Stanionis is out of his scheduled May 25 fight on FS1 with a hand injury.
• UFC Fight Pass continues to add boxing to its streaming lineup, with Murphys Boxing signing a multi-year deal that starts with a card this Friday. Speaking of Fight Pass (I’ve used “speaking of” a lot here, and I’m not going back to edit it), their June 19 card from Japan, headlined by the Kazuto Ioka-Aston Palicte fight for a vacant super flyweight title, will also have a flyweight title fight between Hiroto Kyoguchi and Tanawat Nakoon, aka Satanmuanglek CP Freshmart.