Report- Canelo Will Fight Yildirim In Miami In February

We already knew that Unified Super Middleweight Champ, Canelo Alvarez, would be fighting Turkish contender Avni Yildirim in late February. And, a report Wednesday afternoon says the fight will be happening in Miami, Florida.

Mike Coppinger of the Athletic reported that Canelo-Yildirim will be at Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins, on February 27th and will be streamed by DAZN,

Sources tell @TheAthletic Canelo Alvarez has agreed to a deal with Matchroom Boxing for a Feb. 27 super middleweight title defense vs. Avni Yildirim at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The event will be streamed globally on DAZN (except in Mexico)

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 20, 2021

The massive football stadium will be able to have at least 15,000 fans socially distanced in attendance for Alvarez’s latest championship bout. He previously fought England’s Callum Smith in San Antonio, Texas’ Alamodome in December. Alvarez was victorious by 12 round decision and after having fought for the first time in 13 months, vowed immediately to be back in the ring quickly.

As we wrote previously, Alvarez had hoped to have the Yildirim fight in Guadalajara, Mexico in what would have been his first fight in his home country in 10 years.

However, despite looking at two outdoor venues, that was scuttled by the Mexican health officials due to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic.

It is believed that Alvarez, 54-1-2, would then fight England’s Billy Jo Saunders, the WBO 168 lb. title holder next in May on the festive “Cinco de Mayo” weekend. This is a date Alvarez has headlined for numerous times, previously, in his career.

Canelo has made his short term plans clear by dropping the one remaining Middleweight belt from the WBA earlier this month. His manager and spokesperson Eddy Reynoso said at that time,

“He is 168 now, it is his prime weight . It is where he feels strongest and we are not giving away anything in weight anymore at middleweight.”

It’s further believed that by doing this deal now with Yildirim and having it televised by DAZN (who also did his return fight with Smith last month), that Canelo will stay with them and Matchroom Boxing for the foreseeable future.

That has to be a disappointment to the IBF Super Middleweight Champ, Caleb Plant, who is aligned with Premier Boxing Champions, an arch enemy of Matchroom and promoter Eddie Hearn.

Plant was originally considered for Canelo’s return fight in December, before he and his team chose Smith and the other promoter and television partner. Plant will fight Caleb Truax on January 30th in the latest defense of his title.