By Miguel Rivera
Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (48-1-1, 34KOs) and his handlers have applied the pressure on Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (49-2-1, 32KOs) to accept a deal for an all-Mexican showdown on May 6th.
The two sides are negotiating a potential HBO Pay-Per-View fight. The catch-weight being kicked around in 165-pounds, with Canelo heading up by eleven rounds and Chavez coming down by three pounds.
According to a report on ESPN Deportes, there is an offer of $6 million on the table, with a pay-per-view upside, for Chavez Jr. - and he's been given until the end of next week to accept the presented terms or walk off.
If Chavez Jr. does not accept the terms for the fight, then Canelo will explore other options - like a potential fight with WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders. If the deal gets done with Chavez Jr., then a promotional tour would take place in late January or early February.
Earlier this week, Canelo became the mandatory challenger to Saunders after his application to obtain that position was approved by sanctioning body. There was talk of them fighting on December 10th, but the Mexican star suffered a hand injury in his last contest and was forced to push back his return to next year.
Chavez Jr. returned to the ring earlier this month and won a hard-fought ten round unanimous decision over Germany's Dominik Britsch (32-3-1, 11KOs) in Monterrey, Mexico. Canelo's last fight took place in September, when he captured the WBO junior middleweight title with a knockout of Liam Smith.
Canelo's team is also in discussions to face IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight king Gennady Golovkin next September - should Golovkin come through with his mandatory defense against Daniel Jacobs on March 18th in New York City.