Canelo Alvarez may have his next opponent for September.

Alvarez recently defended his super-middleweight titles against John Ryder with a comfortable unanimous decision win during Cinco de Mayo weekend.

The Mexican superstar was expected to face WBO light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in a rematch in September next.

However, there have been roadblocks when it comes to negotiations. Alvarez wants the fight to take place on the same terms — and same 175-pound weight — as their first fight back in May last year.

Bivol, on the other hand, wants the fight at 168 pounds to challenge for Alvarez's super-middleweight titles. With both sides failing to compromise, alternatives have been looked at.

WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo was one of them and according to Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, the American is the frontrunner as things stand.

“I think the Jermall Charlo fight is probably the frontrunner right now,” Hearn told The DAZN Boxing Show (via BoxingScene).

It's still a great fight — even with Charlo's inactivity since June 2021 — but the first choice was still Bivol.

In recent weeks, WBC cruiserweight champion Badou Jack also emerged as an option only for that to collapse due to Team Alvarez wanting the fight at 180 pounds with a rehydration clause.

However, Hearn can't blame Alvarez for that given that he's already pushing his limits as an undersized fighter by competing at 175 pounds.

“I spoke to [Alvarez manager and trainer] Eddy Reynoso last week. Obviously, they wanted to fight Dmitry Bivol,” Hearn added. “We couldn’t get that one over the line just yet, so they’re looking at other options.

“… I wasn’t involved in [the Jack] discussions but Canelo is a 168-pound fighter, so if he’s asked for 180 pounds, I don’t think that’s overly unreasonable. You can’t criticize Canelo for asking a cruiserweight, who used to box at super middleweight, to come down and weigh five pounds over light heavyweight.

“You can’t just expect Saul to go, ‘Yeah, I’ll fight you at 200 pounds.’ I mean, he couldn’t even weigh more than 180 pounds, even if he tried. So, he would be giving up 20 pounds, probably 30 pounds in the ring. I know everyone loves to criticize Saul, but you can’t. It’s dangerous. He’s willing to step up to 175 to fight these guys like Bivol and Kovalev, but you can’t be stepping up to 200 or 190, or something. Actually, it shouldn’t be allowed, right?”

Hopefully, there's progress made on making Alvarez vs. Charlo official and we get a fight date in the next few weeks.