Needing to overcome the hurdle that was mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim on Saturday in order to begin an ambitious 2021 plan to unify all four super middleweight world titles, unified champion Canelo Alvarez looked like every bit of the boldly entering bettor.
Alvarez, (55-1-2, 37 KOs), the sport’s biggest star and best weight-for-weight fighter, did a quick job of his limited opponent while defending his WBA and WBC titles at £ 168 by TKO in the third round up front of 15,000 socially distant fans at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
The 30-year-old Mexican star gave a beautiful performance amid fireworks and a live show on his walk to the ring alone. After Yildirim (21-3, 12 KOs) hid behind his high guard in the first two rounds, he finally succumbed to a rigid right-wing cross from Alvarez that dropped him in the third round.
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After trainer Joel Diaz warned his fighter between rounds that he needed to show something or the fight would be interrupted, Yildirim, 29, faced him with an empty expression on his face that made his corner interrupt the fight.
“It doesn’t matter if they are taller and have more range, or if they have a good new coach or none, it doesn’t matter,” said Alvarez after the victory. “I come here to do my job and win and I come to make history and I have the best coach in the world [Eddy Reynoso] in my corner. “
CBS Sports was with you all the way on Saturday, so be sure to follow the live results and highlights below.
Fight card, results
- Canelo Alvarez (c) defeated Avni Yildirim via TKO in the third round (corner kick)
- McWilliams Arroyo (ic) defeated Abraham Rodriguez by TKO in the fifth round (stoppage of reference)
- Zhilei Zhang vs. Jerry Forrest declared majority draw (95-93 Forrest, 93-93, 93-93)
- Diego Pacheco won. Rodolfo Gomez Jr. by unanimous decision (79-73, 79-73, 79-73)
- Marc Castro defeated John Moraga by TKO in the second round
- Aaron Aponte won. Harry Gigliotti via unanimous decision (40-34, 40-34, 40-34)
- Keyshawn Davis won. Lester Brown by TKO in the second round
- Alexis Espino won. Ashton Sykes by TKO in the fifth round
Canelo x Yildirim scoreboard, live coverage
|
Cinnamon |
10 |
10 |
10 |
technical KO |
30 |
||||||||
|
Yildirim |
9 |
9 |
8 |
26 |