Eddie Hearn doesn’t consider Gennadiy Golovkin a potential opponent for Canelo Alvarez’s next fight.

While negotiations for the fight Alvarez really wants with Caleb Plant have stalled, Hearn believes Golovkin is fully focused on boxing Ryota Murata in December. Published reports last month indicated Golovkin would’ve been willing to square off against Alvarez a third time September 18 if that opportunity presented itself, but Hearn noted during a recent appearance on “The SI Boxing Podcast” that Dmitry Bivol is the frontrunner to replace Plant as Alvarez’s opponent.

After discussing Russia’s Bivol (18-0, 11 KOs), the WBA light heavyweight champion, as an alternative to Plant, Mannix asked the promotional representative for Alvarez and Golovkin if their ever-lingering third bout is an option.

“I don’t believe for this September, no,” Hearn said. “I mean, I know Gennady’s focused on the Murata fight in December. I think [Alvarez-Golovkin III is] a fight that will always have relevance as long as they’re both fighting. You know, it could be a fight for May next year. So, I think, you know, the ultimate – the next decision is do we fight September 18th? Or do we just relax and sort of take on the chin that we’ll just fight one more time this year and see if the Plant fight changes direction?”

Hearn acknowledged that they’re running out of time to secure a September 18 fight for Mexico’s Alvarez, whether it’s against Plant, Bivol or someone else. The date reserved for Alvarez’s return to the ring is six weeks from Saturday night.

The 31-year-old Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) has been very vocal about his desire to oppose Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) next because Plant owns the only super middleweight title Alvarez needs to become the first fully unified champion in the 168-pound division. Alvarez, a four-division champion, holds the WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles.

The 39-year-old Golovkin, meanwhile, would have to move up from the middleweight maximum of 160 pounds to the super middleweight limit of 168 to face Alvarez a third time in a fight DAZN would stream worldwide. Golovkin considers himself a middleweight, but he would be paid extremely well for the long-awaited chance Golovkin maintains he was promised by DAZN executives to avenge a 12-round, majority-decision defeat to Alvarez in their rematch in September 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Alvarez and Golovkin fought to a widely disputed split draw in their first fight, which took place in September 2017 at T-Mobile Arena.

Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) holds the IBF and IBO middleweight titles. Japan’s Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) is the WBA middleweight champion.

They reportedly have agreed to meet December 28 in Tokyo, where Murata, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, resides.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.