By Brad Slotnick: Canelo Alvarez is opening up as a massive 20 to 1 favorite over Avni Yildirim for their fight next month on DAZN on February 27th at the Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, Florida. Canelo and Avni will be headlining on this card.
It’s still unknown who Matchroom Boxing, the promoters of the event, will have in the co-feature spot. It would be good for DAZN if Eddie Hearn puts together an interesting fight to interest fans to want to subscribe to the platform.
Canelo vs. Yildirim might not have the appeal to lure back subscribers to DAZN lost because of the pandemic.
Oddsmakers giving Yildirim little chance
The oddsmakers apparently were unmoved by Yildirim’s controversial 10 round technical decision defeat at the hands of Anthony Dirrell two years ago in February 2019.
Like many of the fans, the oddsmakers view Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs) as being overmatched going into his title challenge of WBA//WBC/Ring Magazine super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs).
Yildrim hasn’t shown himself capable of beating world-level fighters during his short seven-year professional career.
The Turkish fighter’s management has matched him two times against top-level fighters as a pro, and he’d lost both times.
Chris Eubank Jr stopped Yildirim in three rounds in 2017, and Anthony Dirrell beat him in 2019 by a 10-round technical decision.
The fight was stopped because Dirrell suffering a cut from a clash of heads. Yildirim will give Canelo a good fight for as long as it lasts.
If Yildirim can take Canelo’s power, he could make this an interesting fight. Canelo can be hurt just like any fighter, and Yildirim certainly hits hard.
Canelo vs. Yildirim = Showcase fight for Alvarez
“Canelo – Yildirim is a bit of a ‘who cares?’ type of fight,” said Carl Frampton. “We all would have wanted Canelo against Caleb Plant, Andrade, Billy Joe Saunders.
“All these guys give him a much tougher test than Yildirim. I don’t think any of them beat him. And I think Plant has the best chance of beating him, but Yildirim doesn’t have any chance of beating him.
“I think Yildirim is European level at best. That’s it really. I wouldn’t say he’s world-class, but let’s take this for what it is. It’s a showcase fight.
“If you look at old-time records like Robert Duran, they’re littered with clowns in between big fights and big names.
“That’s the way it used to be. They used to be more active obviously. I’m not saying Yildirim is a complete clown, but this is a showcase fight and it’s a fight where there is no risk there for Canelo.
What I will say is and the positive thing is he’s staying more active than anyone else during this pandemic and he is the superstar of boxing.
I’ll be watching it, and I’m sure you’ll be watching it too. Most of the fans around the world will be watching it.
Just understand that showcase fights hopefully it’s one of the three fighters [Plant, Saunders, or Andrade] I’ve mentioned next. I hope so.
[David] Benavidez, maybe throw him in there as well as a potential opponent. But yeah, understand it’s a showcase fight,” Frampton said of Canelo’s February 27th title defense against Yildirim.