Canelo Alvarez taking short-term, two-fight deal with DAZN
Canelo Alvarez to spend the first half of 2021 with DAZN.
Canelo Alvarez’s immediate boxing future, at least in the short term, is with DAZN.
The trainer and manager of Alvarez, Eddy Reynoso, is reportedly finalizing a two-fight deal on behalf of the boxing pound-for-pound great with Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn that will see Alvarez compete on the streaming platform within the first half of 2021.
Sources: Eddie Hearn and Eddy Reynoso discussing a two-fight deal for Canelo Alvarez to compete on DAZN in February and May against Avni Yildirim and Billy Joe Saunders, respectively. If deal reached, first bout could take place Feb. 27 in Canelo’s hometown, Guadalajara, Mexico
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) December 26, 2020
Eddy Reynoso, Eddie Hearn completing deal between Canelo Alvarez & DAZN
The deal would see Alvarez face off with two-time super-middleweight title challenger Avni Yildirim in February before an anticipated showdown with WBO super-middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders in May.
According to Manouk Akopyan of the Los Angeles Times and BoxingScene, the February bout with Yildirim is being targeted for February 27 and may take place in Alvarez’s hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico.
Alvarez would be defending his newly-won WBC super-middleweight title in the bout, as Yildirim is the WBC mandatory challenger. Alvarez defeated Callum Smith on December 19 to claim the WBA (Super), The Ring and the then-vacant WBC super-middleweight titles. The fight would be Yildirim’s first in two years.
Yildirim challenged for the IBO super-middleweight title in October 2017, getting knocked out by Chris Eubank Jr. Yildirim’s most recent fight from February 2019, a bout with Anthony Dirrell for the then-vacant WBC title, ended in a loss via split technical decision after Dirrell was cut from an accidental head clash.
Saunders improved to 30-0 this month with a unanimous decision win over Martin Murray to retain his WBO 168-pound title. It was Saunders’ third successful defense of the belt.
With an Alvarez win over Yildirim, it could set up for a showdown with Saunders that would see Alvarez’s WBA and WBC titles and Saunders’ WBO title all on the line. A fight between Alvarez and Saunders had been teased since both combatants held gold at middleweight.
In fact, Alvarez and Saunders were scheduled to have a super-middleweight title unification bout in May of this year before the bout was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and eventually fizzled out altogether.
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