Canelo Alvarez’s top 2021 plan is to do what no other boxer has done in the four-belt era: unify the super middleweight division.
Ahead of his Feb. 27 title defense against WBC mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim in Miami, Alvarez told ESPN his plan for the rest of the year is fighting WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders in May, then IBF champion Caleb Plant in the fall to get all the belts.
Alvarez currently has a two-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing to fight Yildirim and Saunders on May 8 with both fights airing on DAZN. He would need to negotiate a separate deal with Plant, who is promoted by PBC Promotions, and September has already been discussed as an early date for that bout — assuming he wins the first two.
Alvarez launched his own promotion company – Canelo Alvarez Promotions – this week as he continues to manage the freedom of being an independent boxer without a long-term deal with an outside promotion group.
“That’s the goal. They are the champions,” Alvarez said. “If they continue being the champions, that’s who I will go after.”
If Alvarez completes his plan, he would have fought four title fights within a nine-month span. He kept open the possibility of fighting a fourth time in 2021, which would mean five fights in a 12-month span – something unheard of for this generation of star boxers. Doing that and becoming undisputed super middleweight champion would only add more notches to Alvarez’s impressive career.
As for a much-anticipated trilogy with rival Gennadiy Golovkin, Alvarez did not rule out the possibility in the years ahead, but it won’t happen before he completes his mission of unifying the division.
“Right now, I have other short-term goals,” Alvarez said. “So he’s still not on the map yet. He’s still not on the radar.”