Ahmet Oner “Still Hopeful” His Fighter Gets Canelo Chance
Right now, nobody knows what is going to happen with Canelo Alvarez; when he will fight again, who against and on which network. His mega-million dollar lawsuit against DAZN and Golden Boy raging, Canelo’s time is currently taken up with legal issues, not ring time. That said, there could be some idea of who the Mexican star may fight next.
A purse bid for a Canelo-Avni Yildriim fight has been postponed by the WBC, to October 6, and though in truth not too many fans are overly excited about seeing this fight – which would contest the vacant WBC 168 pound title – it could happen. And Canelo, when he is able to fight again, may well look at the fight as a pretty easy way to scoop up yet another belt.
Ahmet Oner, promoter of the 21-2(12) Yildrim, spoke with Sky Sports and he said he is “still hopeful” his fighter will get the Canelo fight. Also, the promoter may well put in a bid for the fight.
“We are happy with our position that we are the mandatory challenger (for the vacant WBC super-middleweight title), and if it’s Canelo, it’s great,” Oner said. “If it’s a different opponent, then we will see. We’ll go from there, but right now, I don’t know who is fighting us for the vacant title. Canelo is a big chance for us, so I let things go smooth. Let him resolve his issues, if it’s possible. We’ll be happy if it’s Canelo, and if it’s then decided that Canelo will not fight, then I speak to my partners PBC. We’ll speak to PBC and the WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. I am still hopeful it’s Canelo.”
When the whole lawsuit is done with, Canelo’s first fight back will be a big event, no matter who he fights. Fans will simply be pleased to see the Mexican warrior back in action in the ring. So who knows, maybe it will be Canelo Vs. Yildrim after all (DAZN turned down Yildrim as a suitable opponent, this just prior to the lawsuit being filed by Canelo’s legal team).
Yildrim would be a hefty underdog against Canelo, no doubt. In his two biggest fights to date, against Chris Eubank Jr and Anthony Dirrell, “Mr. Robot,” as the Turkish fighter is known, was beaten. The Dirrell fight took place in February of 2019 and Yildrim has not fought since the TD defeat.
After so long out of the ring (and again, we have no idea how long the lawsuit will drag on for), Canelo may well want to take what looks like a pretty safe fight. Maybe Yildrim will fit the bill perfectly.