The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee has issued a ruling that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will be recognized as WBA champion at middleweight and super middleweight.

Canelo won the WBA and WBC middleweight titles in September 2018, when he defeated Gennady Golovkin by majority decision, and he will defend the titles on May 4th in a unification against Daniel Jacobs, the champion of the International Boxing Federation (IBF). The bout will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Canelo then won the 168-pound WBA "regular" title in December, when he defeated Rocky Fielding Jr. by technical knockout in the third round. Callum Smith holds the WBA's "super" world title at 168-pounds, which he captured by knocking out George Groves, and is widely recognized as the true WBA beltholder of the weight class.

The WBA is basing their decision on the past treatment of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Mayweather, for years, was allowed to hold the WBA world titles simultaneously at welterweight and junior middleweight. The scenario was identical with the WBC. Mayweather had captured the WBA strap by defeating Miguel Cotto in 2012 and then beat Canelo the following year for the WBC's version.

Both sanctioning bodies allowed Mayweather to hold their junior middleweight titles until his retirement in 2015 - despite Mayweather not fighting at junior middleweight for two years time.