Hamzah Sheeraz has entertained the possibility of a fight with pound-for-pound great Canelo Alvarez as the Janibek Alimkhanuly negotiations go to a purse bid.
Sheeraz's next opponent remains up in the air after the 27-year-old defeated Simon Zachenhuber in majority decision fashion back in July to retain his WBO super middleweight title.
The WBO ordered the champion to fight mandatory challenger Alimkhanuly after the Kazakh boxer made the jump up from the middleweight division, angering Sheeraz who labelled the order as a "joke".
Sheeraz demonstrated an initial reluctance to take the fight due to beliefs that Alimkhanuly shouldn't be rewarded with a title opportunity after being stripped of his IBF middleweight strap as a result of testing positive for an illegal substance.
He has showed a more recent willingness to lock horns with Alimkhanuly however, but the bout will now go to a purse bid after the two parties failed to come to an agreement by 10th September.
The bid is set to take place on Wednesday 16th September -- with a $300,000 minimum acceptable offer -- but Sheeraz still believes that the offer will be considerably lower than what he deserves for what could be the biggest fight of his career.
While firstly Sheeraz will want to resolve the ongoing dispute with Alimkhanuly, murmurs linking the Brit to a fight with pound-for-pound great Canelo Alvarez don't seem to be disappearing.
When speaking to CEO of Ring Magazine Rick Reeno about the prospect on the Mr. Verzace Podcast, he said:
"Listen, I've got to keep doing my thing, keep winning, keep putting on big performances, moving forward, and he's got to do the same.
"He's a legend of the sport. If the fight happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I'll continue to just be the best version of myself that I could possibly be.
"It'd be an absolute honour to share the ring with him and I think it'd be a fire fight for sure."
Canelo -- 63-3-2 -- lost via unanimous decision to Terence Crawford 12 months ago, and before he entertains the possibility of a clash with the unbeaten Sheeraz, he returns to the ring against against Christian M'billi for the WBC super middleweight on 31st October.
