Tag: callum smith

Canelo Alvarez near deal to fight Avni Yildirim on Feb. 27

Canelo Alvarez is near a deal with Matchroom Boxing to fight Avni Yildirim on Feb. 27 and another opponent on May 8.

Canelo Alvarez and Matchroom Boxing are near a deal to fight Avni Yildirim on Feb. 27 and another opponent on May 8, according to The Athletic.

The outlet is reporting that the sides have agreed on major points but final details are being worked out.

Alvarez, who won two super middleweight titles when he outpointed Callum Smith on Dec. 19, would defend against the mandatory challenger Yildirim at a venue in the United States on DAZN.

The Turk agreed to step aside so Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) could fight Smith for the titles.

Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs) is a solid fighter but would be a tremendous underdog against Alvarez. He won five fights since he was stopped in three rounds by Chris Eubank Jr. in 2017 but lost a technical decision to Anthony Dirrell this past February.

The opponent for Cinco de Mayo weekend evidently hasn’t been selected. Alvarez has said he wants to unify the 168-pound titles so fellow beltholders Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant would be his targets.

Alvarez dominated Smith to win 119-109, 119-109 and 117-111 on the cards, claiming Smith’s WBA belt and winning the vacant WBC title.

The Mexican star recently left Golden Boy Promotions to become his own promoter. He worked with Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn for the Smith fight.

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Eddy Reynoso says it’s not fair to ask Canelo Alvarez to fight 175-pounders

Eddy Reynoso says it’s not fair to ask Canelo Alvarez to fight 175-pounders because he’s a natural 168-pounder.

Don’t expect to see Canelo Alvarez fight Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol any time soon.

Eddy Reynoso, Alvarez’s manager and trainer, told Boxing Junkie on Thursday that it’s unfair to ask the Mexican star to fight 175-pounders because his natural weight is 168.

Alvarez stopped Sergey Kovalev in the 11th round to win a light heavyweight title in November 2019 but he moved back down to super middleweight, at which he outpointed Callum Smith to win two major titles on Dec. 19.

Alvarez has said he wants to unify all four 168-pound belts.

“The people asking for that,” said Reynoso, referring to Alvarez fighting a 175-pounder, “those are people who just want to see [Alvarez] lose. When he was at 160, they wanted him to fight at 168. He beat a 168-pounder and now people want him to fight at 175.

“They always give a reason why he should fight heavier and heavier. Eventually they’ll say, ‘Why not fight Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury?’ These people have bad intentions. He’ll keep fighting at 168 because that’s his weight.”

Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) took a risk by challenging Kovalev, who was once on pound-for-pound lists. However, 36 at the time, he was perceived to be in decline.

Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) is 35 but he’s fresher than Kovalev was and would have a significant size and strength advantage over Alvarez. The same goes for Bivol (17-0, 11 KOs), a gifted boxer-puncher. Bivol is 30, the same age as Alvarez.

Alvarez is expected to defend his titles against Avni Yildirim next month. If he wins that fight, he plans to defend against either Billy Joe Saunders or Caleb Plant in May. He plans to fight three times this year.

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Eddy Reynoso says it’s not fair to ask Canelo Alvarez to fight 175-pounders

Eddy Reynoso says it’s not fair to ask Canelo Alvarez to fight 175-pounders because he’s a natural 168-pounder.

Don’t expect to see Canelo Alvarez fight Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol any time soon.

Eddy Reynoso, Alvarez’s manager and trainer, told Boxing Junkie on Thursday that it’s unfair to ask the Mexican star to fight 175-pounders because his natural weight is 168.

Alvarez stopped Sergey Kovalev in the 11th round to win a light heavyweight title in November 2019 but he moved back down to super middleweight, at which he outpointed Callum Smith to win two major titles on Dec. 19.

Alvarez has said he wants to unify all four 168-pound belts.

“The people asking for that,” said Reynoso, referring to Alvarez fighting a 175-pounder, “those are people who just want to see [Alvarez] lose. When he was at 160, they wanted him to fight at 168. He beat a 168-pounder and now people want him to fight at 175.

“They always give a reason why he should fight heavier and heavier. Eventually they’ll say, ‘Why not fight Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury?’ These people have bad intentions. He’ll keep fighting at 168 because that’s his weight.”

Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) took a risk by challenging Kovalev, who was once on pound-for-pound lists. However, 36 at the time, he was perceived to be in decline.

Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) is 35 but he’s fresher than Kovalev was and would have a significant size and strength advantage over Alvarez. The same goes for Bivol (17-0, 11 KOs), a gifted boxer-puncher. Bivol is 30, the same age as Alvarez.

Alvarez is expected to defend his titles against Avni Yildirim next month. If he wins that fight, he plans to defend against either Billy Joe Saunders or Caleb Plant in May. He plans to fight three times this year.

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Canelo Alvarez’s title defense next month will be in U.S., not Mexico: report

Canelo Alvarez will defend his super middleweight title next month in the United States, not Mexico.

Mexicans will have to wait to see Canelo Alvarez fight again on their soil.

Alvarez’s anticipated title defense next month will take place in the United States, not in Mexico as hoped, because of the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN reported Thursday.

Alvarez, now his own promoter, and his affiliates decided that conditions in the U.S. are better for live events.

The super middleweight titleholder is expected to face mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim late next month. An announcement could come as soon as Friday.

Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) hasn’t fought in his native country since he stopped Ryan Rhodes in June 2011.

The title defense will be a quick turnaround for Alvarez, who easily outpointed Callum Smith on Dec. 19 to take Smith’s WBA belt and win the vacant WBC title. If he wins, he plans to defend again in May against either Billy Joe Saunders or Caleb Plant, who hold the other two titles.

Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs) agreed to step aside for the Alvarez-Smith fight with the stipulation that the winner would fight him next.

The 29-year-old Turk last fought in February 2019, when he lost a technical decision to Anthony Dirrell.

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Canelo Alvarez’s title defense next month will be in U.S., not Mexico: report

Canelo Alvarez will defend his super middleweight title next month in the United States, not Mexico.

Mexicans will have to wait to see Canelo Alvarez fight again on their soil.

Alvarez’s anticipated title defense next month will take place in the United States, not in Mexico as hoped, because of the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN reported Thursday.

Alvarez, now his own promoter, and his affiliates decided that conditions in the U.S. are better for live events.

The super middleweight titleholder is expected to face mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim late next month. An announcement could come as soon as Friday.

Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) hasn’t fought in his native country since he stopped Ryan Rhodes in June 2011.

The title defense will be a quick turnaround for Alvarez, who easily outpointed Callum Smith on Dec. 19 to take Smith’s WBA belt and win the vacant WBC title. If he wins, he plans to defend again in May against either Billy Joe Saunders or Caleb Plant, who hold the other two titles.

Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs) agreed to step aside for the Alvarez-Smith fight with the stipulation that the winner would fight him next.

The 29-year-old Turk last fought in February 2019, when he lost a technical decision to Anthony Dirrell.

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Canelo Alvarez says he’d inflict ‘serious damage’ on Gennadiy Golovkin

Canelo Alvarez says he’d knock out Gennadiy Golovkin and inflict ‘serious damage’ in a third fight.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on DAZN.com.

***

Canelo Alvarez recently defended his and trainer Eddy Reynoso’s decision that a third fight with Gennadiy Golovkin would have to take place at 168 pounds, at which the Mexican star now competes.

Alvarez and Golovkin fought to a draw in 2017 before Alvarez took a majority decision in another close fight one year later. Both bouts took place at 160, at which Golovkin continues to fight. Alvarez defeated Callum Smith on Dec. 19 to become a unified titleholder at 168.

Reynoso recently said it would be 168 or bust for a possible third fight between Alvarez and his Kazakhstani rival. Alvarez said essentially the same thing in an interview with The Ring.

Alvarez added that the fight wouldn’t go the distance this time.

“I don’t have to prove anything to anyone,” he said. “I did my job already by beating him twice, and right now I want to stay at 168. … If [Golovkin] wants to move up, we’ll see what happens, if that’s what the fans really want.

“I’m at 168 and I don’t have to do any favors for anyone. I’m at 168 and our goal is to unify here. I feel good right now, I feel strong. I feel like I’m at my peak and I continue working hard.

“If a fight [with Golovkin] happens a third time, I feel so good that I could I most likely knock him out and do some serious damage.”

Golovkin is 38 and probably would be 39 by the time a third fight could be set up. Promoters Eddie Hearn and Oscar De La Hoya have expressed more interest in pairing Triple-G with elite middleweight rivals Demetrius Andrade and Jaime Munguia than a third fight with Alvarez.

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Canelo Alvarez says he’d inflict ‘serious damage’ on Gennadiy Golovkin

Canelo Alvarez says he’d knock out Gennadiy Golovkin and inflict ‘serious damage’ in a third fight.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on DAZN.com.

***

Canelo Alvarez recently defended his and trainer Eddy Reynoso’s decision that a third fight with Gennadiy Golovkin would have to take place at 168 pounds, at which the Mexican star now competes.

Alvarez and Golovkin fought to a draw in 2017 before Alvarez took a majority decision in another close fight one year later. Both bouts took place at 160, at which Golovkin continues to fight. Alvarez defeated Callum Smith on Dec. 19 to become a unified titleholder at 168.

Reynoso recently said it would be 168 or bust for a possible third fight between Alvarez and his Kazakhstani rival. Alvarez said essentially the same thing in an interview with The Ring.

Alvarez added that the fight wouldn’t go the distance this time.

“I don’t have to prove anything to anyone,” he said. “I did my job already by beating him twice, and right now I want to stay at 168. … If [Golovkin] wants to move up, we’ll see what happens, if that’s what the fans really want.

“I’m at 168 and I don’t have to do any favors for anyone. I’m at 168 and our goal is to unify here. I feel good right now, I feel strong. I feel like I’m at my peak and I continue working hard.

“If a fight [with Golovkin] happens a third time, I feel so good that I could I most likely knock him out and do some serious damage.”

Golovkin is 38 and probably would be 39 by the time a third fight could be set up. Promoters Eddie Hearn and Oscar De La Hoya have expressed more interest in pairing Triple-G with elite middleweight rivals Demetrius Andrade and Jaime Munguia than a third fight with Alvarez.

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Canelo Alvarez plans to unify 168-pound titles this year

Canelo Alvarez said he plans to unify all four major 168-pound titles this year.

Canelo Alvarez’s immediate goal is clear: Unify all four super middleweight titles.

Alvarez, who outpointed Callum Smith to take the Briton’s WBA belt and win the vacant WBC title on Dec. 19, told RingTV.com that he plans to fight at least three times this year to become undisputed 168-pound champion.

He is expected to face mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim in February before targeting his fellow titleholders, Billy Joe Saunders (WBO) and Caleb Plant (IBF).

“I’ve worked hard for this and it’s a great situation to be in,” said Alvarez, who recently became his own promoter. “It’s a pretty simple plan for 2021, fight for all of the belts at 168 and fight three times, maybe four. We’ll see.

“I want to take all of the titles (at 168). My goal is to fight anyone at 168 if they have a title, that’s who I’m going to go after. The goal is February, May and September. That’s our goal for 2021.”

That would seem to leave out middleweight titleholder Gennadiy Golovkin and top 168-pound contender David Benavidez for the time being.

Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) has faced Golovkin twice, fighting to a draw in 2017 and winning a majority decision the following year. Benavidez lost the WBC title on the scale before his fight with Romar Alexis Angulo in August.

Alvarez, who believes he beat Triple-G both times, reiterated that he is in no hurry to face him again but left that possibility open.

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“I don’t have to prove anything to anyone,” Alvarez said. “I did my job already by beating him twice and right now I want to stay at 168. … If (Golovkin) wants to move up, we’ll see what happens, if that’s what the fans really want.

“I’m at 168 and I don’t have to do any favors for anyone. I’m at 168 and our goal is to unify here. I feel good right now, I feel strong. I feel like I’m at my peak and I continue working hard.

“If a fight happens a third time (with Golovkin), I feel so good that I could I most likely knock him out and do some serious damage.”

Eddy Reynoso, Alvarez’s manager and trainer, commented on both Golovkin and Benavidez.

“We’re independent and we can talk to anyone we want to right now, and we have some great plans for the future,” he said. “The plan is to fight our mandatory in February and then fight again in May and in September.

“Maybe we’ll look at Saunders down the line and then Plant. Our goal is to be the first unified Mexican super middleweight champion. We want to unify all of the titles and fight the best 168-pounders out there.

“GGG is fighting at 160, but our goal is to fight at 168. Benavidez is a good fighter, but the only thing about him is that he does not have a belt. He has accomplished a lot in his career, but Saul is about winning all of the belts.

“We also don’t know if Benavidez can reach 168 pounds anymore. There is no purpose to fight him right now. [Golovkin] can come up to fight 168, even though it looks like he can make 160 comfortably. If he wants to stay there, that’s fine, that’s his choice.

“But if [Golovkin] or [Jermall] Charlo wants to come up and fight at 168, that’s fine, too. We have no problem fighting anyone. Canelo went through a very stressful time with the former contract and we had to make a decision on what we wanted to do, and we took a risk in getting out of the contracts.

“There was light at the end, and we fought and beat a difficult champion in Callum Smith. I don’t think I ever saw Canelo so happy after he beat Smith. He was back in the ring doing something he loves to do.

“He’s always learning and right now his mindset and training mode is like he’s just starting his career. We’re looking to have a great 2021.”

Canelo Alvarez plans to unify 168-pound titles this year

Canelo Alvarez said he plans to unify all four major 168-pound titles this year.

Canelo Alvarez’s immediate goal is clear: Unify all four super middleweight titles.

Alvarez, who outpointed Callum Smith to take the Briton’s WBA belt and win the vacant WBC title on Dec. 19, told RingTV.com that he plans to fight at least three times this year to become undisputed 168-pound champion.

He is expected to face mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim in February before targeting his fellow titleholders, Billy Joe Saunders (WBO) and Caleb Plant (IBF).

“I’ve worked hard for this and it’s a great situation to be in,” said Alvarez, who recently became his own promoter. “It’s a pretty simple plan for 2021, fight for all of the belts at 168 and fight three times, maybe four. We’ll see.

“I want to take all of the titles (at 168). My goal is to fight anyone at 168 if they have a title, that’s who I’m going to go after. The goal is February, May and September. That’s our goal for 2021.”

That would seem to leave out middleweight titleholder Gennadiy Golovkin and top 168-pound contender David Benavidez for the time being.

Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) has faced Golovkin twice, fighting to a draw in 2017 and winning a majority decision the following year. Benavidez lost the WBC title on the scale before his fight with Romar Alexis Angulo in August.

Alvarez, who believes he beat Triple-G both times, reiterated that he is in no hurry to face him again but left that possibility open.

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“I don’t have to prove anything to anyone,” Alvarez said. “I did my job already by beating him twice and right now I want to stay at 168. … If (Golovkin) wants to move up, we’ll see what happens, if that’s what the fans really want.

“I’m at 168 and I don’t have to do any favors for anyone. I’m at 168 and our goal is to unify here. I feel good right now, I feel strong. I feel like I’m at my peak and I continue working hard.

“If a fight happens a third time (with Golovkin), I feel so good that I could I most likely knock him out and do some serious damage.”

Eddy Reynoso, Alvarez’s manager and trainer, commented on both Golovkin and Benavidez.

“We’re independent and we can talk to anyone we want to right now, and we have some great plans for the future,” he said. “The plan is to fight our mandatory in February and then fight again in May and in September.

“Maybe we’ll look at Saunders down the line and then Plant. Our goal is to be the first unified Mexican super middleweight champion. We want to unify all of the titles and fight the best 168-pounders out there.

“GGG is fighting at 160, but our goal is to fight at 168. Benavidez is a good fighter, but the only thing about him is that he does not have a belt. He has accomplished a lot in his career, but Saul is about winning all of the belts.

“We also don’t know if Benavidez can reach 168 pounds anymore. There is no purpose to fight him right now. [Golovkin] can come up to fight 168, even though it looks like he can make 160 comfortably. If he wants to stay there, that’s fine, that’s his choice.

“But if [Golovkin] or [Jermall] Charlo wants to come up and fight at 168, that’s fine, too. We have no problem fighting anyone. Canelo went through a very stressful time with the former contract and we had to make a decision on what we wanted to do, and we took a risk in getting out of the contracts.

“There was light at the end, and we fought and beat a difficult champion in Callum Smith. I don’t think I ever saw Canelo so happy after he beat Smith. He was back in the ring doing something he loves to do.

“He’s always learning and right now his mindset and training mode is like he’s just starting his career. We’re looking to have a great 2021.”

Canelo Alvarez could fight Yildirim in Feb., Saunders in May: report

Canelo Alvarez could fight Avni Yildirim in February and Billy Joe Saunders in May, according to a report.

Canelo Alvarez’s 2021 schedule appears to be falling into place.

The Athletic is reporting that promoter Eddie Hearn and Eddy Reynoso, Alvarez’s trainer and manager, are in talks for a February fight against Avni Yildirim and a May bout with Billy Joe Saunders on DAZN.

The Yildirim fight could take place on Feb. 27 in Guadalajara, Mexico, Alvarez’s hometown, according to reports.

Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) easily outpointed Callum Smith on Dec. 19 in San Antonio to take Smith’s WBA super middleweight title and win the vacant WBC belt. The WBC had ordered the winner of that bout to defend against Yildirim, the sanctioning body’s mandatory challenger.

Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) is the WBO 168-pound titleholder. A victory over the Londoner would allow Alvarez to hold three of the four major belts. Caleb Plant holds the fourth belt (IBF).

Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs) is coming off a 10th-round technical-decision loss to Anthony Dirrell in February of last year, meaning the Turk will have been out of the ring for two years if he fights Alvarez this February.

Saunders is coming off a near-shutout decision over Martin Murray on Dec. 4 in London.

Alvarez also presumably will fight again on Sept. 18, two days after Mexican Independence Day. Potential opponents are Plant and rival Gennadiy Golovkin, with whom he has drawn and won a decision.

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