Unified super-middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is without doubt a modern-day great and arguably has the strongest résumé of any active fighter in the sport. As he extends upon his already astounding legacy, he has now been stripped of one of his world titles for failing to fight his mandatory challenger, and the Mexican did not mince his words when giving his response to the decision.
A four-division world champion, Canelo Alvarez has found his optimal weight at 168lbs, after failing to recapture a light-heavyweight world title in 2022. Previous to this, the Guadalajara-born phenomenon went on a legendary run that saw him defeat each of the super-middleweight champions; Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant within a twelve-month period to claim the undisputed throne.
Since then, Alvarez has made an impressive four defences of the undisputed crown but has gone the distance in all four contests. However, many felt as though that run without a stoppage would come to an end when the IBF called upon their mandatory to enforce a clash between Alvarez and relatively unknown Cuban William Scull.
Yet, instead of taking on Scull, Canelo has opted to face Edgar Berlanga and as a result he has been stripped of his IBF world title. In an interview on the ‘Million Dollaz Worth of Game’ podcast, Canelo declared that he is at a point in his career when he can do as he pleases and seemed unbothered by the IBF’s move.
“When you hit a certain level, there are stars and there are superstars – they make the championship, the championship does not make them. So, it is way different. I come and I do my career, I fight with [Miguel] Cotto with a clause, I fight with [Floyd] Mayweather with a clause, I fight with everybody to build the name of Canelo Alvarez. Right now, I can do what I want.
“It is not going to come to one day where the IBF say ‘hey, you need to fight with him’ because who is Scull? I have never heard about him, only when they said ‘hey, this is your mandatory’ – I have never heard of him. I don’t want to do whatever they want, I want to do whatever I want. In the position I am in, I can do whatever I want, because I deserve it because of all I have done.
“They have said ‘you don’t want to fight Golovkin’ – I fought him, ‘Lara?’ – I fought Lara, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant, [Austin] Trout, Mayweather, Cotto, [Dmitry] Bivol, everything. I did everything. Now, I can do whatever I want.”
Canelo-Berlanga will go ahead on September 14th live on Amazon Prime Video pay-per-view, topping a bill that includes two former opponents of Canelo, as well as the return of former world champions Stephen Fulton and Rolando Romero – who each lost their belts in their most recent outings.
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