By Jimmy James: Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez will not be undisputed if he were to beat undefeated IBF champion Caleb Plant. The media hypes this fight to be undisputed, but historically that cannot be the case.
Never has an organization like the WBC handed free franchise belts to fighters coming from lower-weight classes just because they deserve it– that is unheard of.
The WBC franchise belt is no different than the Ring title belt in that it is trying to create a lineal champion within their own organization, whereas the Ring title was created for the undisputed champion of the division. In my opinion, both the Ring and the WBC no longer hand credible belts, especially because only the undisputed champion should be crowned those imaginary belts.
Canelo never cleaned his division in 160lb because he knew that Demetrius Andrade would most likely make him look bad. Canelo has always avoided American undefeated champions. It is sad that a boxer of his status would fight Rocky Fielding and Avni Yildrim over an undefeated champion in 160lb to become undisputed. But that is okay because Canelo also ducked him at 154lb when Andrade held the WBO belt. How he was granted the WBC franchise belt after ducking Andrade to miss the undisputed championship remains a mystery worth reading an Agatha Christie novel.
After David Benavidez lost the WBC super middleweight strap by not making weight, they literally ‘gifted’ Canelo the belt, akin to Santa Claus throwing down gifts on the chimney during Christmas. If the WBC was a ‘fair’ organization, they would have given Canelo the belt and forced a fight with Benavidez, who was the true champion, but instead, they wanted to accommodate the Mexican diva by simply rejecting Benavidez’s right to fight for his belt back.
If Canelo beats Plant in October, he shouldn’t be named undisputed champion until he grows a pair and fights Benavidez, a boxer he has avoided like he avoided Andrade in the middleweight division. Belts are only worth what you fight for them. You can’t just give belts away and simply ignore the history behind boxing like it never existed.
Bernard Hopkins, Marvin Hagler, Henry Armstrong, Ike Willams, Manuel Ortiz, and other great legends fought against the most dangerous opponents without ‘help’ from outside organizations to become undisputed. What an insult to boxing it is to grant a free belt to someone who has spent half his career using hydration clauses, being caught cheating, avoiding undefeated champions, and taking opposition on their way out.
Ladies and gentlemen, Canelo should not be considered undisputed until he fights Benavidez. We can’t just grant him a belt without fighting for it. Canelo didn’t even have to fight Avni Yildrim as the WBC never made him his mandatory! Canelo fought Yildirim in order to avoid Benavidez, a boxer he never mentioned, when he called out all the fighters in 168lb.
If he were to win that false undisputed championship, then it would send a signal to the sport of boxing that undefeated/unthroned champions no longer have the ability or right to regain their belt back by actually ’fighting’ the challenger. We might as well cancel all belts and wait for an outside organization to create a true championship belt, to rule them all like it was during the days of the National Boxing Association before belts lost their soul.