Canelo demolishes Yildirim in three rounds, sets up May 8 unification fight vs. Saunders

Pound-for-pound king retains super middleweight belts

Time and again during his storied career, Canelo Alvarez, the pound-for-pound king and boxing’s biggest star, has fought top opponents. Saturday night was not one of them.

Unified super middleweight world champion Alvarez, admittedly taking a bit of a breather fight, shredded highly questionable WBC mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim in three one-sided rounds to retain his 168-pound belts for the first time before a socially distanced crowd of about 15,000 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

Alvarez did as he pleased for virtually every moment of the fight before Yildirim, who never appeared to seriously try, quit on his stool after the third round.

The victory propelled Mexico’s Alvarez into a three-belt unification fight with titleholder Billy Joe Saunders on May 8 – Cinco de Mayo weekend -- at a site to be determined. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who promotes Alvarez and Saunders, announced the expected bout in the ring after Alvarez’s victory.

“Last year, unfortunately, we had to miss out on the big weekend for Canelo Alvarez, Cinco de Mayo,” Hearn said of an Alvarez-Saunders bout that was just about to be announced but wasn’t when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the sports world last March. “This year it’s gonna be very special – May 8th, Canelo Alvarez will continue trying to make history unifying the division against Billy Saunders, the WBO world champion. It’s gonna be one of the biggest fights of the year as he continues to move toward the undisputed championship at 168 pounds.”

Alvarez, a former junior middleweight, middleweight and light heavyweight champion, got the ball rolling on his quest for the undisputed super middleweight title on Dec. 19 when he routed Callum Smith to claim two of the major belts as well as the Ring magazine championship. Yildirim had stepped aside to allow the fight to take place with both promising to face him next if they won.

Alvarez followed through on the obligation and took on massive underdog Yildirim, his former sparring partner, as the one apparent soft touch on a schedule that could include as many as five fight between last December and this December.

Following a theatrical ring entrance, Alvarez made short work of Yildirim, who had not fought since February 2019 and was in his first fight with trainer Joel Diaz.

He went right to work against the passive Yildirim in the opening round, landing several solid left hooks and body shots. The domination continued in the second round as Yildirim did not show an ounce of aggression.

In the third round, Alvarez dropped him in the center of the ring with a clean right hand and continued to batter him to the head and body for the rest of the round.

In the corner after the round Yildirim did not appear to want to continue and after a brief discussion with Diaz, the trainer notified referee Telis Assimenios, who waved off the fight.

“It’s great to be active; it’s wonderful to be here in Miami. I needed the knockout and that’s what I did. I did what I had to do,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “It doesn’t matter if they’re taller, or have more reach or have a good trainer, a no good trainer, it doesn’t matter. I come here to do my job. I come to win and I come to make history and I’ve got the best trainer (Eddy Reynoso) in my corner. I feel strong, I feel fast, I feel comfortable (at 168 pounds).”

According to CompuBox, Alvarez landed 67 of 168 punches (40 percent), including 25 to the body, and Yildirim landed only 11 of 105 shots (11 percent). He was credited with landing only one punch in the first round.

“I want to make my own history. And when they talk about boxing they remember Canelo.” — Canelo

With Yildirim (21-3, 12 KOs), 29, of Turkey, easily dispatched, Alvarez can look forward to facing Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs), 31, of England, in a fight that was agreed to weeks ago pending an Alvarez victory.

“I’ll fight anyone. I fight the best. I always have. I fight the best at 168. It doesn’t matter. Here I am making history,” Alvarez said. “I had the fight against Yildirim and now I have the opportunity to unify the 168 division. I had to do it to maintain my (WBC) championship.

“(Saunders) is a very difficult fighter. I want to unify, he’s a world champion, so we want to go for him. We need to go for him.”

The 30-year-old Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) said he won’t pay attention to the bombardment of expected trash talk from Saunders.

“People talk but I am a mature fighter,” Alvarez said. “I know how to control myself. All I have to do is get into the ring, win and make history.”

If Alvarez handles Saunders he plans to return to then fight on Mexican Independence Day weekend in September with the hopes of facing titleholder Caleb Plant (21-0, 12 KOs), 28, of Las Vegas, for the undisputed 168-pound championship, with another fight possible for December.

Alvarez never was able to become the undisputed champion at middleweight or junior middleweight, where he fought for so long, but he is focused on that prize as a super middleweight.

“It’s because it hasn’t been done and I want to make history, and I want to be one of the best in the world. And at 168 nobody has done it.”

Indeed, there has never been an undisputed super middleweight champion in either the three- or four-belt era. The path is clear for Alvarez as long as he keeps winning.

“I want to make my own history,” Alvarez said. “And when they talk about boxing they remember Canelo.”

Photos: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing