^^ He is not going to retire, he just said that he will not fight Mexican next. And there are noises from within the boxing community and even in social media that his next opponent will be Jermall Charlo. And we boxing fans want to see him against David Benavidez, but it's not going to happen for now. David though is the interim WBC champion while Canelo is their regular champion. But WBC doesn't want to force Canelo as he is the cash cow and obviously Sulaiman's favorite and so he can dictate who he wants to fight. And base on his contract with PBC, they have Jermall Charlo in their stable so it's going to be easy to set up the fight. It's that if the fans are going to buy the tickets. But I will assumed that they will, as we all know that Canelo is still the cash cow and no matter who his opponent will, fans are more willing to see him either live or PPV.
I am pretty sure that retirement is not in his mind right now. I think it is a strategy. Yes, strategy of avoiding good fighters who might cause problems. I don't think he has actually anything against fighting a fighter of his own nationality. He just knows that the fighter might actually be a good competition for him.
Retirement is definitely not in his mind and I can say that with so much confidence because of the reason that you stated. He is still in the money fight. Fans want to see him. So he still has the capability of generating a lot of revenue. And nobody is going to pass on such opportunities.
No, I don't think so too. Not until he is forced to fight a strong boxer by the organization itself (like Yaunfitda said), especially if they want to make a good money flow.
But, he is the champion so he can decide who or when to fight unless he is not doing it at the specific amount of time given, then WBC will probably step in.
Who's next? They say it will happen in May but there's still no news about who he will fight next. Because of that, a lot of speculation are coming out and challengers are also voicing out.
Terence Crawford was one who voiced out that he would even try to climb three divisions just to test Canelo.
Then there's David Benavidez and he is entitled to have that chance. And if the news is correct, WBC already ordered Canelo to fight him and discussions are being made.
https://www.marca.com/en/boxing/2024/02/18/65d26b2922601d2e408b45cc.htmlCanelo Alvarez to face David Benavidez by order of the WBC
I believe the boxing fans would welcome this and would love to see this happen.