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World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman was left stunned on Tuesday, when Mexican superstar “Saul “Canelo” Alvarez made an official request to secure a mandatory crack at WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu.
On Tuesday, Canelo’s manager and trainer, Eddy Reynoso, made the title shot request on his boxer’s behalf at the WBC’s annual convention in Mexico.
The request was quickly approved by the sanctioning body.
Earlier this month, Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) became the undisputed world champion at super middleweight when he knocked out Caleb Plant.
In facing Makabu (28-2, 25 KOs), Canelo would make a tremendous jump from 168 to the cruiserweight limit of 200-pounds.
Canelo, a four division world champion, has never fought beyond the light heavyweight limit of 175-pounds.
Sulaiman admits he was caught by surprise when Reynoso made the request.
“It’s a lot of risk. It’s a complex move, but it has already been accepted. I would like to talk with Canelo, with Eddy. Yes, it is a very important risk that would break a lot of patterns. He looks for challenges but I never saw this coming,” Sulaiman said.
“Thinking of such a challenge is unthinkable and would put him in a very different position. To begin with, Mexican boxing is naturally comprised of smaller weights. Thinking of a Mexican cruiserweight champion is something that breaks absolutely everything.
“The [WBC’s] vote is that Canelo will be a direct challenger to the cruiserweight title. Makabu has a mandatory defense signed with [Thabiso] Mchunu. I will make immediate communication… they recorded a January date for the fight but their promoter said that he won’t be ready for January 8. I will immediately address this issue.
“Being a Franchise [champion] has a series of immediate benefits, but we are fully in support of this request and I am sure that it will happen. Makabu is a very dangerous fighter and at cruiserweight he is something tremendous.”