The best punch trackers on the market
26th February 2021
By: Noah Abrahams
Unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) makes his 2021 debut on Saturday when he defends his WBA (Super) and WBC championships against Avni Yildirim (21-2, 12KOs) at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, live on DAZN in over 200 countries (excluding Mexico).
Alvarez competed six days before Christmas, beating Callum Smith via unanimous decision to win the WBA and WBC belts. The 30-year-old wants to be active in 2021 after only fighting once in 2020.
Yildirim is the WBC mandatory challenger, and Alvarez wants to get out of the way so he can have a clear path to becoming the undisputed champion at 168 pounds.
Yildrim, however, should not be considered a walk-over. His record and status as the mandatory challenger show that he is an accomplished and seasoned pro. The Turk is determined to represent his home nation to the best of his abilities and vowed: “I am coming to make my country proud. I am representing the whole of Turkey”.
Alvarez’ promoter Eddie Hearn, says that the Mexican (a four weight world champion) is the best pound for pound boxer on the planet.
“There’s no debate that Canelo Alvarez is the pound-for-pound No 1,” Hearn said.
“I’ve been around the sport for 34 years and I do feel like a fan-boy around Canelo Alvarez because he’s the best fighter I’ve ever seen up close.”
At 30-years-old, Canelo is bidding to become the first undisputed world-super middleweight champion. By beating Yildirim, he would remain on track for bouts against WBO title holder Billy Joe Saunders and IBF champion Caleb Plant.
“I feel very motivated to be in Miami and have this fight,” he said.
“I like everything about Miami and I am very happy to be here. It is an honour to fight at Hard Rock Stadium. I feel very excited, very happy and it’s even more motivation for me.
“They only let us put 15,000 people in because of the pandemic, but with that we are fine.”
UK fight fans will have to stay up late come the early hours of Sunday morning. The ring walk time is expected at around 4am GMT (11pm ET), though this depends on the length of the undercard fights.
