Teddy Atlas: London could be ‘the money move’ for Canelo Alvarez against Chris Eubank Jr.

Eight times since 2010, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has headlined a Mexican Independence Day weekend fight card, and with the exception of a contract dispute and the pandemic, he adhered to the date from 2016 to 2022.

But now, with the UFC heading to a Sept. 14 card at the Las Vegas Sphere that may include Conor McGregor, it increasingly appears Alvarez could vacate the date for a second consecutive year.

A Monday check with likely American venues for Alvarez’s next bout found that neither has anything finalized as the wait continues for the undisputed super middleweight champion and his manager-trainer Eddy Reynoso to announce the next bout.

On Tuesday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Deep Waters,” analyst Paulie Malignaggi floated an idea connected to the emergence of England’s Chris Eubank Jr. (33-3, 24 KOs) as a possible opponent.

Calling the UFC’s assertive move to Sept. 14 for a second straight year a “big statement and a kick in the teeth to boxing,” Malignaggi said, “You could see Canelo maybe taking his act on the road to England, where he’d be welcomed with open arms. The English love their boxing and superstar boxers.”

Malignaggi cited financially successful ventures to England by Ukrainian heavyweight and lightweight champions Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko in recent years as proof.

“They were received very respectfully even though they were fighting the local guy,” Malignaggi said.

“England would love to have a Canelo Alvarez [fight]. Those boxing fans are the best in the world. They’d be rooting for Eubank, but, obviously, they’d be privileged and in awe to have one of boxing’s stars to choose their venue to fight at.”

Eubank, the WBC’s No. 3-ranked middleweight and son of popular former two-division champion Chris Eubank Sr., offers Alvarez both the U.K. ties and the fact that he’s trained by Brian “Bomac” McIntyre, the 2023 trainer of the year best known for cornering unbeaten three-division champion Terence Crawford.

Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh has spoken of working to arrange a showdown between undisputed champion Alvarez and newly crowned four-division champion and two-time undisputed champion Crawford should the latter defeat Israil Madrimov for the WBA junior middleweight belt Aug. 3 in Los Angeles.

“I’m thinking, with this combination of the UFC going on the Mexican Independence weekend, it may push Canelo out of Vegas and it may push [another possible opponent, Edgar] Berlanga away because Berlanga is a more popular opponent in the U.S.,” Malignaggi theorized.

The unbeaten Berlanga is Alvarez’s WBA mandatory opponent, and he offers the ability to hawk the bout as a renewal of the Puerto Rico-versus-Mexico rivalry, although he would stand as a substantial underdog.

“Let’s be honest, if you get the fight over to Europe a couple weeks [after Mexican Independence weekend], I can see that possibility opening up and I can see where [Alvarez] is going with this,” Malignaggi said.

Although UFC and boxing cards often go head-to-head, the clashing of opposing high-profile combat sports cards can definitely reduce expected sales.

In 2019, Alvarez was spotted resting on his locker-room couch for an extended period as he waited out the conclusion of a UFC pay-per-view card headlined by Nate Diaz so that fight fans could switch over to boxing and pay to see Alvarez’s complete fight afterward.

Recently, boxing officials familiar with the situation over Sept. 14 said, “it’s up to” Alvarez and Reynoso how to proceed.

“If you can bring it to London, that’s the money move,” Hall of Fame commentator and veteran cornerman Teddy Atlas said on ‘Deep Waters.” “At the end of the day, you want the [biggest] crowd. You don’t have Mexican Independence Day, you go to London.”

Atlas said he obviously likes Alvarez, who turns 34 on July 18, against either Eubank or Berlanga.

“The only threat to Canelo is Father Time – if Canelo suddenly gets older and slips,” Atlas said. “He’s slipping a little bit, but he’s [the sport’s] golden goose and he has the privilege to pick his music. [Eubank and Berlanga] are as close to ‘opponents’ as you can get, because Canelo has the edge and he’ll always have the edge, because he’s the money guy.”