He’s the number one P4P boxer in the world. He’s the WBC and WBA (Super) super middleweight champion. The day is not too far when Canelo Álvarez will be the ruler of the 168, that is, becoming the undisputed champion of the division.
On his comeback fight after a year, Canelo thrashed Callum Smith to clinch the WBC and WBA (Super) belts and is currently preparing to defend his titles against mandatory challenger Avni Yıldırım.
To become the undisputed champion at super-middleweight, the Mexican maestro will need to defeat the WBO super-middleweight titleholder Billy Joe Saunders at their unification bout in May.
Then his’s next aim will be the IBF belt, currently around the waist of Caleb Plant. “Sweethands”, who recently defended his title against Caleb Truax, has himself nodded to such a matchup.
With Canelo himself revealing that he aims to have four fights this year, its no wonder that the superstar will aim at the title fights to become the undisputed super-middleweight champion of the world and the first Mexican boxer to achieve such a feat.
But is that the ultimate goal? As the boxer himself puts it, it is rather a ‘short-term’ one, but it is important.
Not stopping at undisputed, Canelo wants to leave a legacy behind in boxing
In a recent interview with Matchroom Boxing, Canelo insisted that both him and his trainer Eddy Reynoso view the undisputed super-middleweight championship as a short term goal.
“It’s important for me and Eddy because very few people have achieved becoming undisputed champions,” Canelo said in the interview, “And that’s a short-term goal for us. To win all the titles at 168 pounds.”
Winning all titles at 168 will make Canelo the first ever Mexican undisputed super-middleweight boxer. No wonder this will be a feat for the history books, but Canelo wants to continue creating history.
“Obviously, no Mexican has ever done it. So that’s our short-term goal, to keep making history,” the 30-year-old went on, “And that’s what we want. Eddy and I have always wanted the best. And we want to keep making history.”
“I think it’s important, not just for me, but for all fighters. To make history in boxing is very important, I think. It’s very important to me to leave behind a legacy in this sport. And that’s why we’re doing this. To keep making history and so when people talk about boxing, they always remember me.” (H/T BoxingScene)
