Canelo Alvarez Cements His Name in the History Books
There is no question that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KO’s) is a phenomenal fighter. Although it was a losing performance, the Mexican redhead has been tabbed for greatness ever since his September 14, 2013 bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. In fact, since that time, Alvarez has only gone on to improve his skill, profile and political power in the sport.
Now, Canelo is one of the most gifted boxers on the planet and the very face of boxing. It is for these reasons, and more, that Canelo Alvarez is 3KingsBoxing’s 2021 Fighter of the Year.
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CAN’T STOP THE HUSTLE
After capping off 2020 by capturing the vacant WBC super middleweight title and lifting the WBA title off of then undefeated champ Callum Smith, the promotional free-agent staged three fights during the calendar year. This led to three victories, two of which green-lighted his name to be etched in boxing history books.
The first win, which was also the least important and easiest to forget, came against WBC mandatory Avni Yildirim. After easily dispatching the overmatched opponent in a short three rounds, Alvarez would move to a much more significant unification with undefeated WBO champ “Superb” Billy Joe Saunders. Contrary to his fight with Yildirim, Canelo was having quite a bit of difficulty dealing with Saunders’ boxing ability early on.
As the bout wore on, however, the redhead began finding his groove and scored more regularly with his own offense. Then, in the eighth round, Alvarez suddenly ended the night with one brutal, crunching uppercut. Perfectly placed, the shot literally broke Saunders’ orbital bone and forced him to surrender on his stool. The UK wild man has yet to compete again since this loss.
Having beaten and sent Saunders off in the back of a medical buggy, Alvarez immediately took possession of his WBO super middleweight title, leaving him with ownership of the WBO, WBA and WBC belts. At this point it was obvious what was going to be next. The chance to become the first Mexican and super middleweight undisputed champion in boxing history!
FOR ALL THE MARBLES
In his last and most significant bout of the year, Canelo fought IBF champion Caleb “Sweethands” Plant. This is a fight that had initially been talked about before Saunders got the opportunity. However, Plant felt the amount of time to train relative to when the bout would take place was not enough. But by November, everything was set.
Reminiscent of his duel with Saunders, Alvarez had to adjust to Plant’s smooth boxing ability and in-ring acumen. Also, the unified champ fell into a better and better rhythm as the bout wore on but it took less time to show the difference in pedigree in this bout. Ultimately, Canelo would catch up to and stop Sweethands in the eleventh round.
With this specific win, the name “Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez” will be at the top of the list when boxing fans research undisputed champions at super middleweight.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Now as an unattached free-agent, the undisputed super middleweight champion and the face of boxing, Canelo’s future is exceedingly bright. Therefore, it will be extremely interesting to see who he dances with next. There were talks that he was going to face WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu. Yet, public backlash and the inability to offer “step-aside” money to Makabu’s mandatory Thabiso Mchunu has seemingly put an end to that chatter…for now.
At super middleweight, there is tremendous desire to see the champ battle two-time WBC champion David Benavidez. Fans would also love to see the redhead collide with light heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Both of these matches have been highlighted and discussed before, although, there was never any real traction toward getting them done.
Then of course, there is the intrigue of the unfinished business he has left spanning across two divisions. Middleweight champions Jermall Charlo and Dememtirus Andrade have been synonymous with Canelo’s name for years now. Settling who is the best in the ring between these three is almost paramount at this point!
Regardless of what 2022 may bring, Canelo’s achievements in 2021 earn him 3Kingsboxing.com’s 2021 Fighter of the Year!
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By: Bakari Simpson & EJ Williams
