Sports

Canelo Alvarez’s status is turning middleweight division into mess

It’s getting a bit ridiculous, really. It wasn’t long ago that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin met for what everyone considered the undisputed middleweight championship, one of boxing’s most prestigious titles. Today, you can’t be sure exactly who the middleweight champion is.

Two big “championship” fights in boxing’s 160-pound division will take place on Saturday, while a third potential middleweight showdown appears doomed for now.

The WBC blurred the division’s hierarchy this week by announcing that Alvarez, of Mexico, has been reclassified as the sanctioning organization’s new “franchise champion,” while elevating “interim” middleweight champion Jermall Charlo to the WBC regular middleweight champion.

Charlo (28-0, 21 KOs) got the news while preparing to face California’s Brandon Adams (21-2, 13 KOs) Saturday night at the NRG Arena in Houston. The fight, from Charlo’s hometown, will be televised on Showtime.





Meanwhile, Demetrius Andrade, holder of the WBO middleweight title, also will be in action Saturday, defending his belt against Maciej Sulecki in Providence, R.I. It will be Andrade’s second title defense and first career fight in his hometown. DAZN will live-stream the bout.

Alvarez remains an interested observer of both bouts as talks of a third bout with Golovkin in September seem to have fizzled. Various reports indicate Golovkin, of Kazakhstan, is reluctant to hold the fight for a third time in Las Vegas after two controversial decisions.

Their first bout in September 2017 ended in a draw, while Alvarez was awarded a majority decision in the rematch last year, ending Golovkin’s string of 20 consecutive title defenses. Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) wants to fight again in Las Vegas on the popular Mexican Independence Day weekend in September, and there are indications he could face super middleweight champion Callum Smith or light heavyweight champ Sergey Kovalev.





As for the title mess, the “Franchise Champion” was created by the WBC Board of Governors during a recent mid-year meeting in Honolulu as a special status for someone “who has achieved and maintains the highest of statures in the sport,” according to a release.

A franchise champion also receives special status regarding mandatory defense obligations. The WBC said Alvarez was given the honor for “his many accomplishments which have positioned him as a major worldwide attraction and in light of his unquestionable boxing career linked to our organization.”

Essentially, Alvarez can pick and choose his fights and maintain the title of WBC champion without making mandatory defenses. It didn’t sit well with Charlo, who was hoping a victory over Adams would set up a mega-fight with Alvarez.





“If I’ve been elevated to the regular champion, where is Canelo?” Charlo asked reporters in Houston. “How can he just skip me and just leave the belt alone like that? If Canelo has the bigger belt, well, that’s the belt I want now.I’ll continue to do what I’m doing and hopefully I’ll become a franchise champion, too.”

Andrade (27-0, 17 KOs) also was looking to land a unification fight with Alvarez. That remains a possibility considering he is aligned with DAZN, which has a long-term deal with the Mexican champion.

Andrade, a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, has suffered from periods of inactivity in his career and is looking for the kind of money a bout with Alvarez might bring.

“I’ve got the skills,” Andrade said. “I know how to win and look good doing it.”





He said he is looking forward to fighting in his hometown for the first time in his 11-year career.

“For me, it’s great,” he said. “But I plan on being at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against Canelo. That’s where I want to be.”





Share this: