By Kenneth Friedman: Canelo Alvarez is still a possibility for a fight against Avni Yildirim for the vacant WBC super-middleweight title. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman says they’ve scheduled a purse bid for the Canelo-Yildirim fight this month on September 21, according to Sky.
Premier Boxing Champions [PBC] will reportedly be taking part in the purse bid, and there’s a chance that they could win it.
The purse requirements for Canelo will make it hard to picture him agreeing to take the fight with Yildirim unless the purse bid is astronomically high.
Can PBC afford Canelo?
For PBC to put in a massive bid on the Canelo-Yildirim purse bids, one would think that they would have to be thinking of placing the fight on pay-per-view. Would fans in the U.S pay to see Canelo fight Yildirim? Probably not.
If Canelo is looking to get $35 million for the fight, that’s a tough ask. Can PBC support that kind of a purse for a low-level contest like Canelo vs. Yildirim?
With Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) still under contract with DAZN, he presumably needs to be permitted by them to fight on DAZN if they win the purse bid. Canelo fighting on a PPC show while still under contract with DAZN could create problems for him.
According to The Athletic, Canelo “requested” to be considered as an opponent to face #1 Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs) for the vacant WBC 168-pound title. In other words, the World Boxing Council didn’t just select Alvarez’s name out of the top fighters in the weight class.
“The WBC ordered Canelo versus Yildirim for the vacant title. The purse bid is scheduled for September 21,” said Sulaiman to skysports.com.
WBC approved Canelo overwhelmingly
WBC has voted Canelo in by a lopsided 36-1 vote by the board of governors to be the opponent for Yildirim to fight for the vacant WBC super-middleweight belt.
The news of Canelo’s lawsuit against DAZN, Oscar De La Hoya, and Golden Boy Promotions makes it highly unlikely that he would be looking to face Yildirim for the WBC 168lb title. Anything is possible with Canelo.
Canelo was recently interested in facing Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith, two world champions at 168. If he is to fight in 2020, it will make sense for him to meet one of those two belt-holders.
Yildirim would be far less appealing to the average fan worldwide, particularly in the U.S. The Turkish fighter hasn’t built his brant in the States, and it would be a hard sell for PBC if they televise a Canelo-Yildirim fight.
If Canelo doesn’t choose to fight Yildirim, then the Turkish fighter’s promoter, Ahmet Oner, will speak to PBC and WBC president Sulaiman about another opponent.
Yildirim is coming off of a 10th round technical decision defeat to Anthony Dirrell in 2019. It’s interesting that the WBC still has Yildirim as #1 at 168 despite that defeat. Chris Eubank Jr knocked out Yildirim in the third round in 2017 in the World Boxing Super Series tournament.
If Canelo doesn’t take the fight, then the next available top-five contender in the WBC’s rankings at 168 will be selected for Yildirim to fight.