Can anyone in the superweight beat Canelo Alvarez?

Another fight by Canelo Alvarez and another dominant performance by one of the best weight for weight of the sport. Alvarez defeated Avni Yildirim by technical knockout on Saturday to retain the WBC and WBA super middleweight titles.

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

Rothstein: Avni Yildirim spent more time waiting in the ring for Alvarez to arrive during strikes than actually fighting Alvarez. This fight was not a real competition – and that is part of the problem for Alvarez now. He’s the star of the sport, but he doesn’t have many options in terms of legitimate opponents to fight.

Alphabet organizations can continue to throw opponents at him, but it does not appear that there will be many opponents that will be a game competition. Yildirim should not be in that ring. Is Saunders a guy who can really give Alvarez a run for his belts? Or will May 8 present another coronation? Because let’s face it, the pre-fight mini concert with J Balvin was more interesting than any action we saw in the ring on Saturday night.

Drink: I really don’t think Saunders will offer much competition. Saunders can do a few things well, but his unbeaten record doesn’t bring any really incredible wins. Yes, he beat Willie Monroe Jr., David Lemieux and Chris Eubank Jr. at middleweight, but none of these fighters are close to being elite.

Furthermore, Saunders does not have much power. He failed to knock out Martin Murray in a fight that Saunders dominated in December. And of his 30 wins, Saunders has only 14 knockouts. This does not bode well when we face Alvarez, who received all the blows from Gennadiy Golovkin as well as any of his opponents in his epic series of two fights.

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

Rothstein: Charlo would be intriguing and a good idea; although because it would be a cross promotion, who knows if or when that fight would be made. However, this can be one of the advantages of Alvarez being alone in terms of promotion.

But how did the Saturday night fight come about? Yildirim was a mandatory challenger, and it wasn’t much of a challenge. How often do we see it today – mandatory challengers essentially struggling to keep busy to delay the inevitable? For Alvarez, it delayed unification against Saunders, a potential third fight against Golovkin or perhaps that fight against Charlo.

It is not the only fight of this type that we will see, nor even the only one on this week’s news. We could see a similar situation this year with Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos Jr. It seems increasingly rare that the mandatory challenger ends in a fight that is worth, well, mandatory. Instead, it seems that alphabet organizations are trying to stay relevant.

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

Drink: Oh, absolutely. But the conversation about mandatory title defenses is just one of many problems with sanctioning bodies. Take a look at 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 classifications of these four sets.

For a while, that’s what made the Ring Magazine championship so good. The publication’s credibility, coupled with strong ratings, made its belt the most legitimate and easy to understand for casual fans. But even that has declined in recent years.

Bringing it back to Alvarez, what is a perfect 2021 for him? If he defeats Saunders, as he should – William Hill listed him as a favorite – 588 in the UK on Sunday morning – what will he do next?

Rothstein: Oh man. Going to MMA? Fight a brother Paul? This seems to be in fashion these days. Playing. Seriously, I’m kidding. If Alvarez really wants to fight four times this year, then maybe try to see if he can finish uniting the super middleweight division by fighting IBF title holder Caleb Plant or go to 160 to fight Charlo. The other option may be to try to return to the light heavyweight division to face unified champion Artur Beterbiev.

There are options, but at this point, it seems that each Alvarez fight must be one of two things: a great opportunity to make money or one where he can win another belt in one division or another. It’s easier said than done, but Alvarez is the only fighter who can do that.

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