Canelo Alvarez next fight: Who is the Mexican sensation boxing next?
Canelo Alvarez is expected to fight the WBC mandatory challenger, Avni Yildirim in February 2021. Although not confirmed officially, Alvarez is most likely to face the 29-year-old Turk, according to his manager Eddy Reynoso.
The No.1 pound-for-pound boxer is coming off an impressive win against Britain's Callum Smith to win the WBA (Super), The Ring, and WBC super-middleweight titles.
Undefeated since 2013, Alvarez has gone on to reach the summit of four different weight divisions, and with his recent win over Smith, there is a question mark hovering over the Mexican's next opponent.
Speaking to BoxingScene, Alvarez's manager, Eddy Reynoso, stated that Alvarez is set to fight Yildirim in February this year.
"Yildirim is the next opponent for Canelo due to the WBC mandatory protocol. Yildirim is a very good fighter and is willing to fight the best. If Yildirim is able to do it, we’re willing to do it too. Why not?" Reynoso told BoxingScene.
Yildrim was supposed to fight David Benavidez, but the latter was forced to vacate his WBC super-middleweight title after he failed to make weight against Roamer Alexis Angulo, leaving WBC to pit the Turk against Alvarez.
It is expected that Alvarez will fight Yildrim in his homecountry of Mexico after almost a decade, having fought there in 2011, opposite Kermit Cintrón.
"He has wanted to fight in Mexico for a long time. He’s a tremendous, important icon for the country,” said WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman while speaking to reporters.
Will Canelo Alvarez also fight Gennady Golovkin for the third time this year?
Canelo Alvarez left his rivalry with Gennady Golovkin behind after defeating him in 2018, following an equally-contested bout which ended in a draw.
However, many have claimed that both the fights could have gone either way, making fans clamour about a potential Alvarez vs. Golovkin trilogy fight. Still, the Mexican boxer thinks that he has nothing to prove against 'GGG' since he has already defeated him, but is willing to fight him if Golovkin decides to move up to 168.
Alvarez has stated that he is currently focusing on capturing other titles in the division. As of now, it appears that if and when Alvarez breezes past Avni Yaldirim, he may go on to fight the WBO super-middleweight champion Billy Joe Sanders.
There are also some exciting fighters in Caleb Plant, David Benavidez and Artur Beterbiev, who may fight Alvarez at some point.