Can someone with a super average weight beat Canelo Álvarez?

Another fight by Canelo Álvarez and another dominant performance of one of the best pounds for pounds in the sport. Alvarez defeated Avni Yildirim by technical tie on Saturday to hold the WBC and WBA middleweight titles.

We already know what will come to Alvarez: a fight for title unification against Billy Joe Saunders on May 8th. But what can we learn from Alvarez’s three-round performance at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium? Ben Baby and Michael Rothstein react to the victory, to the disappointment of Yildirim’s performance and to what could be Alvarez’s long-term plan.

Rothstein: Avni Yildirim spent more time waiting in the ring for Alvarez to get there during the outings than he fought Alvarez. This fight was not a real contest, and that is part of Alvarez’s problem right now. He’s the star of the sport, but he doesn’t have many options in terms of legitimate opponents to fight.

Alphabet organizations may continue to throw challenges at you, but it doesn’t look like there will be many opponents who will compete in games. Yildirim should not have been in that ring. Is Saunders a guy who can really give Alvarez a run for his belts? Or will another coronation be presented on May 8? To be real, the pre-J Balvin mini concert was more interesting than any other action we saw in the ring on Saturday night.

Baby: I really don’t think Saunders will offer much competition. Saunders can do some good things, but his undefeated record has no really fantastic victories. Yes, he has beaten Willie Monroe Jr., David Lemieux and Chris Eubank Jr. in average weight, but none of these fighters are close to being elite.

Also, Saunders doesn’t have a lot of energy. He was unable to eliminate Martin Murray in a fight that Saunders dominated in December. And of his 30 wins, Saunders has only 14 qualifiers. This is not a good omen when he faces Alvarez, who took all the punches of Gennadiy Golovkin, as well as any of his opponents, in his epic two-fight series.

There’s only one guy who might be able to push Alvarez: the WBC middleweight titleholder, Jermall Charlo. And that would have the potential to be a super fight.

Rothstein: Charlo would be intriguing, and it’s a good idea; although, because it would be promotional, who knows if or when this fight would occur. However, this could be one of the advantages that Alvarez is alone in terms of promotion.

But how did the fight go on Saturday night? Yildirim was a mandatory challenger and not a challenge at all. How often do we see it today: Are mandatory challenges essentially in struggles to stay busy to delay the inevitable? For Alvarez, he delayed unification against Saunders, a potential third fight against Golovkin or perhaps that against Charlo.

Nor will it be the only fight of its kind, not even the only one in the news this week. We could see a similar situation later this year with Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos Jr. It is becoming increasingly strange that the obligatory rival ends up in a struggle that deserves to be, well, obligatory. Instead, it seems that alphabetical organizations are trying to stay relevant.

At some point, after a fight like this, perhaps it indicates the need for a change in the way mandatory title defenses are determined?

Baby: Ah, sure. But the conversation surrounding the mandatory defenses of the title is just one of many problems with the sanctioning bodies. Check the rankings of any of the four main groups (WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF) and the lists (and champions) will make little or no sense. There needs to be better consistency and logic in the rankings of these four sets.

For a while, this was what made the Ring magazine championship so fantastic. The credibility of the post along with the strong rating made their belt the most legitimate and easy to understand for casual fans. But even that has eroded in recent years.

Going back to Alvarez, what is the perfect 2021 for him? If he beats Saunders, how should he (William Hill makes him a -588 favorite in the UK from Sunday morning), what does he do next?

Rothstein: Oh, man. Want to go to MMA? Fighting a brother Paul? It seems to be in vogue these days. The joke. Seriously, it’s just a joke. If Alvarez really wants to fight four times this year, maybe try to see if he can end up unifying the super middleweight division fighting Caleb Plant, FIB holder, or going down to 160 to fight Charlo. The other option could be to try to get back into a light heavyweight division to fight unified champion Artur Beterbiev.

There are options, but right now, it looks like every fight Alvarez has should be one of two things: a big money winner or one in which he can win another belt in one division or another. Having all this movement is easier said than done, but Alvarez is the only one who can do it.

Of course, the other option is to seal this trilogy against Golovkin, who would fall into the category of money winners. If Alvarez did it to end 2021, it could open up a lot of opportunities for him to chart a 2022 in which he could take more steps to be considered one of the best fighters of all time.