By Jimmy James: Yesterday, Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez, defeated Caleb Plant via TKO for a unification fight in super middleweight. Plant did better than expected and was winning rounds until Canelo found the left hook and clubbed the US fighter with a hard punch that rocked him to the canvas. After the fight, Canelo was crowned undisputed champion at super middleweight and painted as the first Latino to ever become undisputed champion in boxing history.
First, that is a false statement pushed by the mainstream media to gain more publicity as there were many Latino champions before him. Eder Jofre, Ruben Olivares, Enrique Pinder, Sixto Escobar, Panama Al-Brown, Vicente Saldivar, Sugar Ramos, Ismael Laguna, Carlos Ortiz, Roberto Duran, Jose Napoles, Kid Gavilan, Hugo Corro, Jose Torres, Carlos Monzon etc, were undisputed champions before Canelo was born. Some were champions at a time when two divisions today, counted as one division before, under the National Boxing Association having fewer weight classes; that means they would be the equivalent of two division champions today, since there were only eight divisions and one belt! The narrative of calling Canelo the first Latino undisputed champion is absolutely ridiculous.
However, if we are based on fairness, under my radar he is not a legit undisputed champion and there is an unquestionable reason behind it! Oleksander Usyk, fought every champion in the cruiserweight division and legitimately beat everyone to be crowned undisputed king, and never ducked anyone; Josh Taylor and Terrence Crawford became undisputed champions after beating all the champions at their respective weight classes without ducking anyone: Canelo, sorry, but not so!
Canelo was given the WBC super middleweight belt without fighting the true champion, David Benavidez. The WBC gave Canelo the belt, before he fought Avni Yildrim, which for starters, was never his mandatory. Canelo had the option to fight someone else according to statements made by the WBC, but he decided that Yildirim was a better option than taking a more serious risk. He never called Benavidez prior to losing his WBC belt for not making weight, he instead waited till the WBC sanctioned Benavidez to go after his belt in a very sneaky and calculated way.
Canelo cannot be a legit undisputed champion if he was given a free belt by the WBC. Those who claim the WBC did their job, forget that the WBC was the same organization that gave a pass to Oscar Valdez after testing positive for an illegal substance against Robson Conceicao. The WBC makes the rules as they go and they are not without controversy. The WBC punished Benavidez for not making weight via KO, but they tickled Valdez in the chin allowing him to retain his title for a much larger offense.
In order for Canelo to be undisputed, he must first fight Benavidez and show the world he can beat the real champion, who never lost the WBC super-middleweight title in the ring. Eddy Reinoso affirmed a few months back that Canelo might fight Benavidez in two more years after he gains some experience; in other words, they will not fight him anytime soon! The grim reality is that they are probably waiting for Benavidez to leave the division and go up in weight once he can no longer make super middleweight. Canelo will avoid Benavidez at all cost, as he never willingly mentions his name.
What made Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant or Callum Smith better draws for Canelo than Benavidez? They all avoided Benavidez in a similar fashion that all current middleweights avoid Demetrius Andrade. And one thing is for sure, had Canelo fought Andrade at middleweight for the undisputed throne, he would have gotten destroyed based on his performance against Plant. Canelo ducked Andrade for the undisputed middeweight championship and he will duck Benavidez for the real undisputed title at super middleweight; mark my words!