Due to the worldwide lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the year of 2020 only saw one appearance from Canelo Álvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs). The Mexican maestro returned to the ring against Callum Smith in December after more than a year of hiatus.
However, as things are progressing, the WBC and WBA (Super) super middleweight champion of the world is planning four fights this year, starting with his upcoming title defense against Avni Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs) on 27th February.
A victory over Yildirim will have Canelo set himself up for a three belt unification bout against WBO super-middleweight titleholder Billy Joe Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) on 8th May.
In the wake of unifying the WBO belt with WBC and WBA (Super) titles, Canelo wants to don the sparring gloves two more times, marking four fights in a year, a feat which Canelo achieved last time in 2011 when he defeated Matthew Hatton, Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gómez, and Kermit Cintrón during his reign as the WBC light middleweight titleholder.
Canelo Álvarez aims to become the undisputed champion at 168
The claim was first made by Dan Rafael of ESPN, who recently conducted an interview with Canelo Álvarez.
According to Rafael’s report, Canelo is planning to have two more fights after facing Yildirim and Saunders, one in September and another in December, which will mark five fights for the pugilist within a span of 12 months.
Its no doubt that Canelo’s target is to become the undisputed champion at super-middleweight, and for that, a victory over Saunders will be followed by facing Caleb Plant.
Plant, the current IBF super middleweight titleholder recently squared off against Caleb Truax to mark his third title defense, and has himself expressed a desire to step inside the ring against Canelo, who in turn, also holds admiration for “Sweethands”.
Meanwhile, WBC heavyweight champion of the world Tyson Fury has worded in on the Canelo vs Saunders fight, and the Fury is confident on his fellow countryman is the ‘kryptonite’ for Canelo.
“He (Saunders) needs to be active and he will punch Canelo Álvarez all around the ring,” Fury said in an interview with Gareth A Davies on the latter’s YouTube channel, “Canelo Álvarez’s kryptonite is someone who boxes and moves — southpaw, slick, good feet, good hand speed, good power.”
“Billy Joe Saunders does all of that, but he needs to be active,” the Gypsy King added.
