U.S boxing fans want to see Canelo Alvarez accept Errol Spence Jr’s challenge for his next fight in early 2021. They have zero interest in seeing the Mexican star continue with his superficial goal of unifying the 168-lb division against the flawed champions in that weight class.
Spence would be a nightmare for Canelo, as he knows how to fight on the inside, he throws body shots, and he’s not going to headhunt all night like most of Alvarez’s opponent. Canelo can’t take it to the body and never has.
It would be one thing if the boxing public in the U.S actually cared about seeing Canelo spend two years unifying the super middleweight division, but they don’t.
If the 168-lb division was loaded with great champions the average fan was familiar with; it would be worthwhile for Canelo to go on this trek to unify the division.
But it’s pretty obvious overall goal is for Canelo to unify. This is just another example of Canelo being an opportunist in seeing weakness among the belt-holders, and he’s going to win some easy titles.
We just saw Canelo do that last year when he moved up to 175 and relieved over-the-hill fighter Sergey Kovalev of his WBO light heavyweight title.
Canelo obviously spotted a weakness in Kovalev, and he went after him rather than going after the talented champions in that weight class in Artur Beterbiev and Dimitry Bivol. We see the same thing from Canelo with him going first Callum Smith, and then Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant.
DAZN is willing to pay Canelo to see him fight these champions, even though they’re not popular in the U.S, and they’re not guys that the fans want to see Alvarez fighting.
The fans want to see Canelo fight Spence, Gennadiy Golovkin, David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, Beterbiev, and Bivol. So why is Canelo going after Saunders and Plant?
It’s obvious. It’s easy money for Canelo, and he doesn’t have to worry about losing like he would if he fought the guys the U.S fans want to see him fight. It’s so utterly transparent what Canelo is doing by focusing on unifying the super middleweight division. This is Cherry Pick 101.
If Canelo cared about the fans, he would scrap his idea of becoming the undisputed super middleweight champion and focus instead on taking on the talented Spence.
That’s the fight the fans want to see right now, not the useless mismatches between Alvarez and super middleweight champions that people have never heard of.
If Canelo really wanted to accomplish something by becoming an undisputed champion, he would return to the 175-lb division and take on IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and WBA champ Dimitry Bivol.
Now would be a worthy goal for Canelo. If Canelo beat Beterbiev and Bivol to become the unified champion at 175, boxing fans would respect that because he would be the underdog in both of those fights.
You can’t say the same for Canelo fighting the terribly flawed super middleweight champions Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant. Canelo will be a big favorite against both of those champions, and for a good reason. Those guys aren’t talented fighters, and neither has beaten anyone of note during their careers.
For Canelo to be putting his energy into his goal of becoming the undisputed champion at 168, it’s a shallow goal that has cherry-pick written all over it.
Canelo’s goal of unifying 168-lb division = excuse to cherry-pick
This gives Canelo an excuse to take easy fights against the weak champions at super middleweight while dodging the dangerous match-ups against these talented fighters:
- Errol Spence
- Jermall Charlo
- Demetrius Andrade
- Gennady Golovkin
- Artur Beterbiev
- Dimitry Bivol
- Bektemir Melikuziev
- Joe Smith Jr
- David Benavidez
These are the fighters that boxing fans really want to see Canelo fight, not Billy Joe Saunders, Callum Smith, Avni Yildirim, and Caleb Plant. The average fan has never heard of these guys, and they don’t care.
Here’s a question. Would Canelo be looking to unify the 168-lb division if Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, and David Benavidez were three of the belt-holders? The answer is NO.
Canelo vacated the WBO strap quickly and moved back down to safety in the weakened super middleweight division.
If the 168-lb division were loaded with talented fighters like Andrade, Charlo, Bivol, Beterbiev, and Benavidez as the champions, I don’t think Canelo would be trying to unify right now. Canelo is an opportunist looking to take advantage of a weak division with a bunch of paper champions holding belts.
If Canelo were truly focusing on giving the boxing fans the fights they wanted to see, he wouldn’t be wasting time on his wretched goal of becoming the undisputed champion in a terribly weak division at 168.
Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) ripped away the WBA Super World Super middleweight title from Callum Smith last Saturday night in a boring fight at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The time that Canelo is spending trying to unify the super middleweight division is a waste, as the fans don’t know who the champions are in the 168-lb division.
This was a fight that was part of Canelo’s plans to unify the 168-lb division to validate his credentials and further his legacy.
No fan interest in seeing Canelo fight Billy Joe Saunders
The problem is, the average fan in the U.S had no idea who Smith (27-1, 19 KOs) was doing into the fight and didn’t care that Canelo was fighting for his title.
It wasn’t a match that the fans were demanding. It’s unclear how much DAZN paid Canelo for the mismatch with Smith, but you can argue that it was a waste.
The amount of interest from casual boxing fans in a fight between Canelo and the unbeaten IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence Jr (27-0, 21 KOs) would be huge in comparison to seeing Alvarez