Canelo welcomes ‘easy money’ McGregor fight, predicts first-round KO

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has wiped out the super middleweight division over the last four years, and not many credible contenders currently remain in the weight class for the 168-pound king. 

The next man who’ll get to throw his name in the hat is Edgar Berlanga on Saturday night in what many assume will be a cakewalk for boxing’s biggest breadwinner. 

With Alvarez only interested in nine-figure purses to face Terence Crawford and David Benavidez, another rival is slowly emerging as a potential foe for the Mexican superstar.

Earlier this week, UFC president and CEO Dana White told BoxingScene to “put a pin on” a potential fight with Conor McGregor. 

Alvarez appears all in on the thought of facing the boxing novice.

“Yeah, why not?” Alvarez told BoxingScene. “We’ve never talked about it. Then we’ll show boxing is better. Easy, easy. Very easy money… [I knock him out] at the time I want. One round, two rounds, three rounds – whatever I want.”  

Alvarez and McGregor have traded barbs in recent weeks. 

McGregor took aim at Alvarez last month predicting that UFC 306, which is also being held Saturday night in Las Vegas at The Sphere, and set to break the all-time UFC gate record, would blow Alvarez’s event out of the water. 

“Canelo is a cornflake. He has about 300,000 buys in him,” said McGregor. “He does not generate nothing near what he seeks to be paid. UFC Noche is going to run them from The Strip. Sheik Turki was right moving on. Canelo doesn’t sell.”

Alvarez quipped that McGregor is his son. 

Even though Alvarez perceives McGregor as child’s play, the crossover clash could still mean big business if there is demand for it. 

For the fight to be considered, McGregor would need to return to the UFC cage and look good while picking up wins, all while completing his UFC contract. 

McGregor, 36, has not fought since suffering a broken leg in 2021. He was supposed to fight against Michael Chandler on June 29, but a broken toe forced him out of the fight.

“I was skeptical from the jump saying that Conor would fight in 2024,” said White. “I am not about 2025. I think Conor will fight [in the UFC] in early 2025.”

McGregor has entertained fights against Manny Pacquiao and even alluded to one day making a world title run in boxing, but neither notion has come to fruition. 

McGregor is 1-3 in MMA since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017 in a blockbuster boxing bout that generated over $600 million in total revenue.

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine, and more. He’s been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.