UFC champion Kamaru Usman has confirmed that he’s still interested in boxing Canelo Alvarez.

Kamaru Usman, in the eyes of the masses, is the pound-for-pound best fighter in mixed martial arts. You could definitely argue that Alexander Volkanovski has earned the honour of receiving that title but either way, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is incredibly good - and at the age of 35, he’s hoping that he’ll continue to go from strength to strength.

His next challenge will come in the form of a rematch against Leon Edwards at UFC 278. If he can get past ‘Rocky’, and do so convincingly, some would say he’s cleaned out most of the division and a move up to 205 pounds would be warranted.

Beyond that, though, there’s still the elephant in the room of a crossover boxing match against Canelo Alvarez looming on the horizon.

Canelo has expressed some interest and so has Usman but with the welterweight champ focusing on MMA for the time being, you could be forgiven for thinking he’d moved on from the idea.

In an interview with TMZ, however, he proved that isn’t the case.

“I would love that. That was supposed to be our date [Canelo vs GGG 3], my date with Canelo, but of course, he found someone else to dance with. I mean, GGG, the trilogy, that’s an incredible fight, that’s something I’m gonna be paying attention to and watching.”

“Canelo, let’s be honest, in this era right now he’s one of the best to do it. It’s just a spectacle. For us to step in there, it’s never been done, pound-for-pound vs pound-for-pound, and they’re significantly close in weight class to be able to do it? Why not? I know a lot of people hate on it, but crazier things have happened. I don’t think there’s anybody in the world who isn’t watching that fight.”

Golovkin awaits

As noted by Usman, Canelo Alvarez will attempt to bounce back from his loss to Dmitry Bivol by finally putting an end to his rivalry with Gennady Golovkin on September 17.

If they get Edwards and Golovkin out of the way, it’ll be down to the Mexican to decide whether Usman or Bivol sounds more appealing next year.