Rising middleweight Gabriel Rosado and new WBO middleweight champ Billy Joe Saunders are targeting a unification title bout against WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who is set to return in the boxing ring in May next year.

Rosado (22-9, 13 KOs) scored a hard-fought unanimous decision over former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey in the co-main event of HBO Latino broadcast at Turning Stone Resort Casino. Rosado said he is “ready” for his next big challenge and wants to get a shot at Alvarez.

“It has been a more than a year since I have been in the ring so I did feel a little rust, but I feel like this fight really helped me shake it off,” Rosado said, reports Boxing Scene. “I am ready for my next big challenge, I would like a shot at Canelo [Alvarez] next.”

Alvarez is set to take on a voluntary title defense in May 2016 after the WBC gave him an extension to negotiate a mandatory title defense against IBF, IBO, and WBA middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin. However, there are plenty of other opponents lurking at the chance to fight Alvarez in May, including newly-crowned middleweight champ Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs), who defeated Andy Lee in Manchester via 12-round unanimous decision.

“I’ve beat Chris Eubank Jr and Spike [O’Sullivan] and now I’ve beat the world champ Andy Lee,” Saunders said. “I want Cotto or Canelo.”

It seems ideal for the rising stars of boxing, particularly in the middleweight class, to chase a fight with Alvarez or even Miguel Cotto, considering how the two fighters have generated millions in their clash last month.

However, according to Scott Gilfoid of Boxing News 24, for the likes of Saunders to get a fight with Alvarez or Cotto, the bout needs to be enticing to the American boxing public. Gilfoid also noted that it would be better for Saunders to give Lee a rematch, with the latter also expressing interests for a second installment of Lee vs Saunders.

Meanwhile, Alvarez and Cotto have yet to reveal their next move, but with the Mexican champ staging a fight on May 7, a major Mexican holiday weekend, it is possible boxing fans could see a sequel of Cotto-Canelo next year.

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