Canelo Alvarez’s schedule for the first half of 2023 appears to hinge on who will win the upcoming light heavyweight title bout between Dmitry Bivol and Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez.

Russia’s Bivol, the WBA beltholder, will defend his title against Mexico’s Ramirez on Nov. 5 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Alvarez has been adamant about getting a second shot at Bivol after he lost to the Russian in their title fight in May, which Bivol won by unanimous decision. Spring 2022 has frequently been floated as a possible date.

Meanwhile, Alvarez is gearing up for a considerable fight in the interim, a defense of his four super middleweight titles (WBA, IBF, WBO, WBC) against Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy match set for Sept. 17 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

In a recent media workout, Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) appeared to offer a crucial caveat regarding the Bivol rematch: Bivol would need to come out victorious against Ramirez for Alvarez to remain interested in a return bout. On the flip side, Alvarez noted that he was not much interested in facing Ramirez because he is his countryman. Alvarez believes Ramirez, a former titlist at 168, is more than capable of beating Bivol. Ramirez, who is backed by Golden Boy, is the WBA mandatory challenger to Bivol, who is promoted by Matchroom Boxing. 

“If Zurdo [wins] – I don’t want to fight with Mexicans,” Alvarez told FightHype.com. “I don’t want to fight with Mexicans. I think Zurdo has a lot of chance to win, and I want him to win. If he wins, we will see if I want the rematch with Bivol, I don’t know.

In a separate interview with FightHype, Alvarez indicated more forcefully that he would not be interested in a rematch with Bivol if he loses to Ramirez.

“If he [loses to Ramirez], no,” Alvarez said. “If Bivol wins, I wanna fight Bivol.”