Canelo Win Could Get Kovalev Back To ESPN, Bob Arum Says

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum is confident that if Sergey Kovalev beats Canelo Alvarez, the Russian boxing star will find his way back to ESPN.

Kovalev vs. Alvarez is arguably the biggest catchweight fight in the works today. Boxing promotion DAZN may soon make an official announcement to confirm that the bout will be a 12-round, 175-pound title fight.

It was also reported that Kovalev received a three-fight deal as part of the agreement to face Alvarez. However, Arum clarified that the said three-fight contract will only be valid if Kovalev loses to the Mexican star.

According to Arum, should Kovalev wins, his contract with DAZN will be forfeited and he will go back to Top Rank and ESPN, Boxing Scene reported.

"Well that is not correct," Arum said about Kovalev’s three-fight deal.

"What is correct is that we will wait for the announcement for the fight but Kovalev, if he loses to Canelo, he will have two come back fights (on DAZN) but if he wins he goes back to Top Rank and ESPN," Arum clarified.

With regards to the fight, Arum is convinced that despite Kovalev’s size advantage, Canelo will still be a tough opponent. As per Arum’s observation, Kovalev doesn’t have the killer body shot Canelo possesses.

“Canelo Alvarez is a tough opponent for Kovalev because even though Kovalev is so much bigger and has that great left jab, Kovalev doesn't take it that well to the body,” Arum noted.

A few weeks ago, Kovalev’s former rival Andre Ward also noted what Canelo must do to defeat the Kovalev. Same with Arum, Ward believes that Canelo’s body shot is the key to stop his past opponent.

“I can see him stopping Kovalev if he can get inside,” Ward predicted.

However, Ward has doubts if the shorter Canelo could keep up with the reach and jab of Kovalev.

“I can see Canelo stopping him. But the only question is how is he gonna get to the reach, consistently enough,” Ward wondered.

Meanwhile, another famous promoter eyes another title fight for Canelo in the future. Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya has expressed his desire to book Jaime Munguia against Canelo in one to two years from now.

"Why not? Obviously when you have two Mexicans fighting inside the same ring you will have fireworks, so why not? Maybe next year, maybe in two years. Jaime Munguia is young and he has a long way to go in this sport and I think a Canelo-Jaime Munguia fight would be excellent all over the world," De La Hoya said.