Canelo Alvarez passing on genuine challenges in pursuit of titles

Canelo Alvarez is avoiding genuine challenges in his pursuit of all four major super middleweight titles.

OPINION

Canelo Alvarez can’t be criticized for avoiding challenges over his career.

The Mexican star shared the ring with Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara and Floyd Mayweather when some believed he was too young to do so and has since fought Gennadiy Golovkin twice and Daniel Jacobs, among other high-quality opponents.

In fact, his willingness to fight anyone will be a highlighted part of his legacy whenever he’s finished.

However, we have to ask in light of recent and upcoming opponents: Is that mindset a thing of the past?

Alvarez is on a disturbing path for those of us who want him to face the best-possible foes because he’s putting too much emphasis on winning titles, which have lost much of their meaning.

He should be more focused on the man across the ring from him than any available trinket.

The disturbing trend actually started in December 2018, when Alvarez elected to fight Rocky Fielding for what the WBA calls its “regular” 168-pound belt just so he could say he had won a belt in a third weight division. Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize that title and neither should you.

Most believe Canelo Alvarez won’t be faced with a serious threat from Avni Yildirim on Saturday. Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing

Alvarez then took on Jacobs in a middleweight title-unification bout. That was a legitimate test — and arguably his last one.

I won’t engage in revisionist history here. I thought Alvarez’s decision to challenge for Sergey Kovalev’s light heavyweight title after the Jacobs fight was a significant risk. Kovalev was 36 and had fought Anthony Yarde only two-plus months earlier, which was a disadvantage. However, he was naturally bigger than Alvarez and experienced.

Others were critical of the matchup because Kovalev had shown signs of decline against Eleider Alvarez and Yarde. For example, Andre Ward, the champion-turned-TV analyst who fought Kovalev twice, suggested before the Yarde fight that Kovalev was about 70 percent of what he had been.

One could argue that Ward was right. Alvarez had some difficulty with Kovalev before finally putting him away in the 11th round.

That leads us to his most-misguided goal: To unify the 168-pound titles.

Of course, that objective is perfectly acceptable in many cases because unified beltholders are the closest things we have to genuine champions amid the unfortunate glut of world titles.

The problem is that the pursuit of unification doesn’t necessarily mean a titleholder will face the best possible opponents, which is the case for Alvarez in the super middleweight division.

He won two of the 168-pound titles by easily outpointing Callum Smith on Dec. 19, Smith’s WBA and the vacant WBC belts. Smith is a solid fighter but levels below Alvarez, which led many to call it a mismatch before they stepped into the ring.

Some people were critical of Alvarez’s decision to fight a faded Sergey Kovalev. AP Photo / John Locher

Now, to keep the WBC title and stay busy, he’s defending his titles against Avni Yildirim on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Just because Yildirim is the mandatory challenger to the WBC title doesn’t mean he belongs in the ring with Alvarez. He doesn’t.

Then comes WBO 168-pound beltholder Billy Joe Saunders in May. The Englishman is a good, experienced boxer but not a legitimate threat to Alvarez, which is why few are excited about that potential matchup.

And, finally, Alvarez appears to be targeting IBF champ Caleb Plant in September to complete a sweep of the titles and become undisputed super middleweight champion.

I happen to think that Plant would have a better chance of beating Alvarez than Smith or Saunders but he would be an even bigger threat with more experience at the highest level. This isn’t the ideal time for the talented fighter from Tennessee.

Now let me ask this: Would you rather see Alvarez fight Group A or Group B?

Group A

  • Callum Smith
  • Avni Yildirim
  • Billy Joe Saunders
  • Caleb Plant

Group B

  • Gennadiy Golovkin (a third time)
  • Jermall Charlo
  • Demetrius Andrade
  • David Benavidez

I’ll go out on a limb and guess that most boxing fans would prefer Group B. And all four of the fighters would jump at a chance to take on the biggest star in the sport, as would anyone in or near his weight class.

And I didn’t include light heavyweights Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, both of whom would give Alvarez hell.

Eddy Reynoso, Alvarez’s trainer and manager, said it’s not fair to ask his fighter to face the 175-pound kings because of the size difference. However, that makes no sense because he already fought at 175 against Kovalev. Is Reynoso saying? “Well, it’s OK to face a fading light heavyweight but not one in his prime.”

C’mon.

If Alvarez really wanted to build his legacy, he would face the fighters in Group B and then move on to Beterbiev and Bivol as soon as possible.

Imagine this: Alvarez fights and beats in succession Golovkin, Charlo, Andrade, Benavidez, Bivol and Beterbiev. Would anyone be asking why titles weren’t at stake in all of the matchups? Of course not. They would be talking about how a great fighter ran one of the most-imposing gantlets in recent years and emerged unscathed.

He will have made history far beyond his pursuit of increasingly worthless titles.

Of course, Alvarez, only 30, still has time to face the Group B fighters and the light heavyweights. Maybe he will. I just think it’s a shame that he appears to be passing over opportunities in front of his face to pursue something less meaningful.

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