Canelo Alvarez showing the way for other boxers with swift return to ring
Canelo Alvarez has solved an age-old boxing problem of dealing with below-par mandatories. How? Simply get in the ring more.
When an elite fighter only boxes twice a year of course there is anger and frustration when one of them bouts is against a mandatory challenger either nobody has heard of or who clearly isn't good enough to test them.
Step up, Avni Yildirim. Criminally, the boxer once handily beaten by Chris Eubank Jnr is deemed by the WBC rankings to be Alvarez's super-middleweight mandatory.
The Mexican knew this when the vacant WBC belt was put on the line for his December win over Callum Smith.
He agreed to it knowing he would have to take on Turk this year or give up the belt he just paid a hefty sanctioning fee for.
So what does he do? Puts pressure on potential suitors trying to sign him up to their broadcaster and promotional company by insisting he has to fight again next month.
That is right, Alvarez, who had adopted a regimented two fights a year approach pre Covid-19, is back in the ring on February 27.
That's just 10 weeks after he outpointed Smith to become WBA and WBC super-middleweight king on December 19.
It is almost a hark back to the old days of when the best boxers were fighting every few weeks.
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So it gets you thinking, why don't more at the top do this?
If the money is there in the middle of a global pandemic to get Canelo back in the ring just a few weeks after his last outing then surely it is possible in normal times?
Sometimes mandatories suck. And boy does Yildirim taking on Alvarez suck as a competitive fight.
But mandatories are needed to bring a sliver of fairness to the often crooked ratings systems put in place by money-hungry sanctioning bodies.
Alvarez is getting this one out of the way with an unexpected date before returning to the ring for his usual May outing possibly in a unification with WBO champ Billy Joe Saunders.
So this mismatch with Yildirim is easier to accept for fans demanding the best take on the best.
If more fighters followed Alvarez's way on this then we wouldn't have farcical situations like we do with Anthony Joshua and will he or won't he have the WBO heavyweight title on the line against Tyson Fury.
Let's hope this isn't a one-off from Alvarez and maybe more can copy him.
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