Canelo Alvarez Set To Face Mandatory Challenger Avni Yildirim Feb. 27
Following Canelo Alvarez‘ dominant unanimous decision victory over the formerly undefeated Luke Campbell last month, we already have his next fight lined up, as he’s set to face mandatory WBC title challenger Avni Yildirim.
This fight is to take place on February 27, at the Hard Rock Stadium, in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Most aren’t too keen on this match up, with Canelo being ranked No. 1 on just about every boxing media sources pound-for-pound list, but it’s a bout that needs to take place.
Yildirim is coming off a 10th-round TKO defeat to Anthony Dirrell back in February of 2019, where he challenged for the WBC light-middleweight championship.
Dirrell in turn lost the title to David Benavidez, and Benavidez was later stripped of his title for failing to make weight for his first defense. That’s where a 21-2 Turkish talent named Avni Yildirim comes in.
It’s not one of the bigger fights to be made in the sport right now, but it does make sense. We have mandatory challengers for a reason. Not to mention, Canelo wants at least three fights this year, this of course being his first.
Think of it like a filler fight, we get to see another one of his incredible performances.
As you see, it’ll have been two years since Yildirim last fought once he steps inside that ring, the same amount of time Canelo has gone 3-0 in.
Canelo comes into this fight with a record of 54-1-2, with his only defeat coming to Floyd Mayweather Jr when he was just 23-years-old. 36 of those victories come via knockout, and he’s going to be looking to make that 37 next month.
Of Yildirim’s 21 victories, 12 come via knockout, with his most recent coming in July of 2018.
There were talks of this bout being booked as soon as Canelo’s last bout against Campbell was over. It’s great to see they got it signed already. This means Canelo may actually fight three times this year, something he hasn’t done since 2011.
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