The showers of April will give way to the May flowers, and soon enough, that means the countdown to the much-anticipated Canelo Alvarez scrap against Danny Jacobs will achieve liftoff.

On Tuesday, the Mexican ace took media queries on a conference call to hype the May 4 tango which will unfold in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile arena on a Golden Boy Promotions card which has the Matchroom/DAZN fighter, Jacobs, as underdog against the red-head.

Not a massive underdog, though; I see some smart minds picking the Brooklyn boxer, liking his ring generalship and explosiveness to surprise the 51-1-2 hitter who last gloved up in December, when he made roadkill of Brit Rocky Fielding.

This meetup is at 160, not the super middleweight class which Canelo looked so comfy at in NYC versus the overmatched Brit. No one is assuming the 35-2 Jacobs will be overmatched, though.

Here are some highlights from the call, which also featured Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya, along with Chepo and Eddy Reynoso, to answer press queries.

It must be said, former unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin was on the minds of many, it seemed, as his name popped up a few times.

Is the goal to fight GGG a third time this coming fall?

Canelo answered with wisdom, showing a veteran’s savvy. “First things first,” he said. “We have a tough, difficult fight ahead of us. As a team, we have a goal. The objective of this year so to win all the belts. If Golovkin has a belt, then yes. Why not? We’ve given the fans two beautiful, great fights. Why not a third?”

Canelo was asked who he thought won the GGG-Jacobs bout, which took place at MSG, the big room, in March 2017: “Yes, I mean, the fight was close,” acknowledged the middleweight champion. “Could have been to anyone. For me personally, boxing is an appreciation. For me, Jacobs won the fight.”

No, no cockiness from the 28-year-old when the subject matter returned to his own fight with Jacobs. “It’s going to be a very difficult fight, especially in the first few rounds,” he said. “Until the moment that I start adapting and imposing my style, it will be a difficult fight because of his style.” Canelo also spoke on Jacobs’ top traits: “He’s an opponent that is very complete. He knows how to obviously change guards from southpaw to orthodox. He knows how to move in the ring. Very difficult. We know the risk of this fight, and it is a high-risk fight. A fighter of my experience, of my level, has to adapt and know how to adapt to all the levels. That’s what we’re preparing for. We’re working very hard to prepare and come out with the victory.”

It’s hard to find an occasion when Canelo gets knocked off stride, when he doesn’t offer an answer that comes off as very reasonable. “Look, the objective this year is to win all titles,” he reiterated. “If Golovkin has a belt before the end of the year, then yes, we’ll gladly fight him. If he doesn’t, see where it falls later, how it plays out.” Patient, composed, Canelo…

He also said yes, he wouldn’t close the door on going to 175, maybe for a fight against Sergey Kovalev.

Then, another question about GGG: Is it unfair to be asked about GGG so much? “No. It’s normal. It’s normal. Look, today we still talk about Leonard and Duran and Hagler and Leonard. They’re great fights. People are going to always talk about them.”

No surprise, then. No drama from the at ease pugilist. Canelo looks very settled into his place in the sport, which is the top spot, when combining contract leverage, drawing power and aura.

NOTE: If you want to see the fight, tix are on sale now and are priced at $2,505, $1,505, $1,205, $805, $605, $405, $305, and not including applicable service charges and taxes. You can also watch it on DAZN streaming service in the U.S. or Sky Sports in the U.K.

Michael Woods does the “Talkbox” podcast for Everlast. A new ep can be found here.

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