Does Canelo Already Have An Opponent Lined Up After Gennady Golovkin Rematch?

Irish boxer Gary O’Sullivan claims he will fight Canelo Alvarez next no matter what his result against Gennady Golovkin is in their highly-anticipated rematch.

Canelo will take on Golovkin on May 5 in Las Vegas for the latter's World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and International Boxing Organization (IBO) middleweight titles.

The first encounter between the two middleweights ended in a controversial split-decision that saw judge Adelaide Byrd infamously award Canelo a 118-110 scorecard when many in the boxing world had Golovkin edging out the contest.

Despite the controversy on the night, the fight was a huge success financially with 1.3 million pay-per-view buys, a gate of $20 million plus and total revenue believed to have exceeded $100 million, leading many to believe the promoters on both sides would prefer a trilogy over any other contest in the near future.

However, O'Sullivan, who is also a part of Golden Boy Promotions who promote Canelo, claims he will be fighting the Mexican next after his own fight that takes place on May 4, though there is no confirmed opponent as of now.

“The fight I'm looking at is Canelo after May 4th so I hope that Canelo obviously beats Golovkin," O'Sullivan told World Boxing News. "I’m going to fight him regardless but it’s much better for me if he wins. I’m looking forward to it you know, I’m very excited for that fight. I believe I'm possibly the hardest puncher in the whole division. If Canelo beats Golovkin, I’d love the opportunity to knock him out and prove I can mix it with the best in this division."

While he would prefer for Canelo to win the titles to get a chance at all the belts, "Spike" believes the rematch can go either way with the 27-year-old possibly winning via a decision.

"That’s what I’m hearing (that Golovkin deserved to win) but I didn’t even watch it!" O'Sullivan stated. "I did see the highlights and I think it’s going to be a close fight (in the rematch) but I think Canelo has a good chance but it could go either way, to be honest. Maybe Canelo might win on points this time."

Many rumors state that David Lemieux or Gabriel Rosado will be O'Sullivan's opponent for May 4 but the Cork native said it is neither of them but that an opponent will be announced soon.

"I’m fighting May 4th in Vegas, I don’t even have an opponent announced, but I will have an opponent announced soon and I know it's not Lemieux and I know it's not Rosado, it’s neither of those," O'Sullivan explained. "I’m not sure who I’ll be fighting at the moment but Golden Boy are putting somebody in place and I’m going to fight them on the 4th May in Vegas."

O'Sullivan, who boasts a 27-2 record, last defeated Antoine Douglas via TKO in the seventh round to win the vacant WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title back in December last year.