I scoffed at the suggestion that Canelo would attempt to move up to cruiserweight from BT Sport, but they must have known something after all.
I can see people already trying to spin this into a "cherry pick", which is just laughable, just like the Kovalev argument was. Especially if he's not going to have a tune up at the weight and go straight into a title fight, as is expected(often overlooked). To fight a seasoned career long cruiserweight, who's only 3 years older than himself, that can punch(25 KOs from 28 fights), is still a risk, whichever way you spin it. Who else would even risk it from 160 to 168? In fact, I'm not sure those at 175 would. Or else, why haven't they already, if it's a weak division or whatever dismissive remark some want to place on the move?
He's not some amazing cruiserweight like Usyk(would that matter for any other fighter doing the same?) but some so called experts are trying to say he chose the "weakest title holder" at present. When he's certainly not(that's Goulamirian), some would even put Makabu above Okolie based on his age and experience. Both 'The Ring' and Boxrec have him ranked as their number 2 in the cruiserweight division(ahead of Okolie) also.
It's not exactly the fight everyone wanted to be his next fight but it's still one people will watch. Winning the WBC at cruiserweight, will add to his legacy and he's more than earned the right to choose what he wants for that.
The names being touted were:
Charlo,
Andrade,
GGG,
Benavidez,
Bivol,
Beterbiev
There isn't an "easy" fight there, most were mentioned by Reynoso as being considered. Most of those will probably happen. In the mean time, maybe just maybe, it's time for some these fighters to fight each other, to justify why they should be next in line. As it stands, none of them stand above the rest in that respect(belts, PPV numbers, last best win-current stock). All this waiting and passing up of fights to see what Canelo does next, is not on Canelo, it's mostly on them. With the exception of Andrade and Benavidez, who seem like the two most avoided of the waiting line(in their respective divisions). Neither of them do big PPV numbers though and Benavidez had a belt Canelo would have had to come to him for. If he wasn't stripped for not making weight, he might be defending the WBC belt in Canelo's next fight for the final piece of the undisputed puzzle . As it was, there was the vacant WBC belt on the line against Callum Smith. Along with the WBA and 'The Ring' title, that Callum picked up is the World Boxing Super Series Tournament(which earned him his universal number 1 ranking at 168lbs).