sport news Canelo Alvarez: The new road to undisputed as boxing's No 1 prepares to take on ...

Canelo Alvarez in a little over 12 months blasted his way through the 168lb division as he etched his name further into the history books by becoming the first-ever undisputed super-middleweight champion last year. 

And on Saturday night, the sport's undoubted pound-for-pound No 1 embarks on a new road to undisputed, as he jumps up to light-heavyweight for the second time in his career to take on WBA (Super) champion Dmitry Bivol. 

The Mexican star took out the super-middleweight champions one-by-one in ruthless fashion, starting with a devastatingly one-sided points win over Britain's Callum Smith in December 2020, before claiming emphatic wins over Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant. 

The 31-year-old was presented with various options across a number of divisions, ranging from super-middleweight to cruiserweight, following his latest success story, but it's those at 175lb he has now set his sights on. 

'I like the idea to be undisputed at 175,' he told TMZ Sports last month, explaining his latest venture. 'That's what I like, but you never know.'  

The journey to another iconic feat is this time less straightforward, however, with mega-fights still awaiting him at super-middleweight, while those at 175lbs represent perhaps his toughest tests yet. 

However, there is a clear route for Canelo to plan out, with potentially just four fights - taking only around a year - for the all-time great to navigate. Sportsmail assesses that route below.  

First up, of course, is Canelo's impending bout against Bivol this weekend at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. 

Canelo had been offered a £100million package by PBC, with Al Haymon looking to set up a super-middleweight bout against Jermall Charlo in May, before another stern test at 168lbs in September against David Benavidez. 

Instead, Canelo opted to sign a two-fight deal with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom, with an intriguing match-up against the seriously tricky Russian agreed. 

Though with just 19 fights on his flawless professional record, Bivol - a light-heavyweight coming into his prime, unlike Sergey Kovalev when Canelo fought him in 2019 - is expected to pose the Mexican a number of problems.  

With a significant height and reach advantage, Bivol - who has ended just 11 of his 19 bouts within the distance - will look to use his exquisite jab and footwork to frustrate a Canelo who has previously shown some vulnerabilities against those who can make him miss. 

That's not to say Bivol doesn't carry power; you only need to look his one-round demolition job against Trent Broadhurst in 2017 to see the knockout capabilities in his arsenal, albeit against lesser opposition.

But against a seriously heavy-handed Canelo, who typically breaks his opposition down bit-by-bit before finally going in for the kill, you'd think movement will be key for Bivol. 

Regardless, even Canelo - who insists he cannot be beaten in current form - believes he's in for a tough test.

'[Dmitry's] a really good boxer,' he said. 'He's a solid champion at 175. It's a dangerous fight. I like it, I love that kind of challenge. I really like it. But, I believe in my abilities, and I'm strong too. So, I'm confident in that, but it's gonna be a really good fight.'

Bivol, meanwhile, is supremely confident of claiming a shock win, one Hearn has revealed would entirely derail Canelo's plans.  

So long as Canelo emerges victorious over the weekend, he will then drop back down a weight once more to defend his undisputed super-middleweight crown, against none other then Gennady Golovkin.

The widely-feared duo have gone toe-to-toe twice before, with Golovkin arguably denied a deserved victory as they drew in 2017, before the rematch ended in a majority decision win for Canelo the following year. 

Much has changed since their last encounter, though, with Canelo defending his middleweight belts twice, before winning a world title at light-heavyweight and coming back down to dominate the super-middleweight division. 

Golovkin's trajectory, on the other hand, has taken a different gradient, fighting just four times in almost four years, all against lesser opposition. 

Indeed, in beating Ryota Murata last month to unify the middleweight division, the veteran (42-1-1) looked much improved after his lacklustre performances against Steve Rolls, Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Kamil Szeremeta.