Just 70 days after returning to the ring for the first time in 2020, Canelo Alvarez is set to step into the squared circle to take on Avni Yildirim. Canelo will be defending his WBA and WBC super-middleweight titles in this bout. Titles that he won when he defeated Callum Smith in a dominating unanimous decision victory.
The February 27, 2021 fight night will mark a quick turnaround for Alvarez. Before fighting Smith, Alvarez did not step in the ring for over a year due to legal battles concerning Alvarez’s contract with both Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN. However, with all of that settled, it appears that Alvarez is ready to give the fans more fights more often.
This time the pound-for-pound best in the world will take on Turkish super-middleweight Avni Yildirim. Yildirim currently holds a record of 21-2 with 12 knockouts.
However, Yildirim has seen more time off than Alvarez. Yildirim has not fought since his controversial technical decision loss against Anthony Dirrell on February 23, 2019. That loss was handed to Yildirim after an accidental head butt caused a cut over Dirrell’s eye.
Even though he hasn’t stepped into the ring in two years, Yildirim’s team seems very confident in their fighter. The Turkish boxer’s manager has also stated that Yildirim will take a similar approach in the fight as Gennady Golovkin, meaning Yildirim will be very aggressive in the fight with lots of power behind his punches. Boxing fans will recall the two fights between Alvarez and Golovkin as one hard-earned victory for Alvarez and another draw. Both fights were special in their own way, and if Yildirim comes into the fight on February 27 looking for a knockout, fans could see yet another special fight.
My prediction: Canelo Alvarez defeats Avni Yildirim via sixth round knockout.
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