Arlington, Texas – Canelo Alvarez has not closed the door to face his biggest rival again.
Alvarez pointed out on Thursday that he was not opposed to facing Janet Kolovkin in the third fight after Alvarez completed the current task of uniting the super middleweight division.
Alvarez was told by a translator two days ago to meet Billy Joe Sanders at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
However, there is a stipulation that Kolovkin should go up to the 168 pound division. His previous two fights were in the middleweight range of 160 pounds.
The third fight could seal a major trilogy between Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) and Kolovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs).
In 2017 they fought in the most controversial draw, many viewers believe Kolovkin should have won. Alvarez won the review at the end of a split. Kolovkin has beaten every professional fighter he has faced except Alvarez.
Throughout the preparations for this weekend’s fight against Sanders (30-0, 14 KOs), Alvarez retained his desire to become the combined champion in the 8 168 division. The Alvarez-Sanders winner will have three of the first four belts. The Caleb plant is another.
The 39-year-old Kolovkin has repeatedly called for a third fight with Alvarez after two controversial results in his previous matches. Alvarez said Kolovkin must move a weight class to make the fight a possibility.
“Why wouldn’t he be?” Alvarez said he went from junior middleweight to middleweight to face Kolovkin, who is not currently scheduled for a fight.
Although the Kazakh fighter appears to be Alvarez’s legacy professional rival, he does not accept the notion that the fights against Mexican champion GGG will only be remembered by Alvarez when he finally retires.
“I did a lot,” Alvarez said. “I fought with many good fighters, many champions. I won him, and I believe everything is the legacy of my career.”