Canelo Alvarez will defend his WBA and WBC super middleweight titles against mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim on Feb. 27 in Miami, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.
The fight will be held at Hard Rock Stadium and broadcast on DAZN, per the reports.
Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) defeated Callum Smith last month to unify the titles. It will be the first fight in two years for Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs), who lost a split technical decision to Anthony Dirrell in February 2019.
“Yildrim is a strong fighter. He is a fighter who has earned his place in boxing to get to where he is as the No. 1 challenger in the world,” Alvarez’s trainer Eddy Reynoso said, per ESPN. “He had a fight against Anthony Dirrell, which seemed to me they took away from him, and gave it to Dirrell due to a cut. It was a world title fight and (even with a loss) he became an official challenger. He is a guy who has worked honestly to be there and he is dangerous, strong, has a good punch and very reliable.”
Alvarez’s last — and only — loss came in 2013 to Floyd Mayweather.
–Field Level Media