Eddie Hearn opens door to Joshua Buatsi fighting Canelo Alvarez

Pound-for-pound king Saul Alvarez is reportedly keen on fighting in London in the near future

Joshua Buatsi (centre) and promoter Eddie Hearn (behind) (Ian Walton/Matchroom)

Eddie Hearn has suggested that Joshua Buatsi could take on Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in the near future, with a victory over Craig Richards potentially setting up a London clash with boxing’s pound-for-pound king.

It was announced this week that south Londoners Buatsi (15-0, 13 knockouts) and Richards (17-2-1, 10 KOs) will go head-to-head in a light-heavyweight bout on 21 May.

And, speaking at the press conference at which the contest was announced, promoter Hearn said the winner of the fight would be Canelo’s mandatory challenger at 175lbs. The Mexican superstar must first overcome unbeaten Russian Dmitry Bivol in May, however.

“Canelo wants to fight in London and if he is going to need an opponent, we have the mandatory at 168 in John Ryder and the winner of this fight will be mandatory at 175,” Hearn said.

“Everyone is hoping – like they are with the ‘AJ’ [Anthony Joshua] fight [against Oleksandr Usyk] – and saying me, me, me. So, let’s see what happens.”

While a venue has not been announced for the undefeated Buatsi’s bout with Richards, the fight will take place in London, with the O2 Arena the front-runner at the time of writing – according to PA.

Hearn said: “There is a lot of respect, [Buatsi and Richards] have known each other for years growing up and, when you start thinking about it, you think: ‘How obvious is this fight to make?’

“It is a really good fight, a domestic fight but two world level light-heavyweights.

“There was a thought with Selhurst [Park], but I don't want to go to a football stadium and do 15,000 or 20,000, because you are patching things up. It is expensive as well!”