Mauricio Sulaiman Grants Eddy Reynoso’s Wish For Canelo To Face Cruiserweight Champion Ilunga Makabu
By: Hans Themistode
Canelo Alvarez has openly admitted that he’s motivated by challenges. After stopping former IBF 168 pound champion Caleb Plant and becoming the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all time, the 31-year-old is apparently on the prowl to discover his next foe.
Following Alvarez’s historic win, Eddy Reynoso, his long-time trainer, revealed that the likely opponents for Alvarez’s next ring appearance would be WBC middleweight belt holder Jermall Charlo, former two-time super middleweight champion David Benavidez, and current unified light heavyweight champion, Artur Beterbiev.
But while Reynoso had seemingly narrowed down the choices of Alvarez’s next opponent, the former trainer of the year has pleaded with the WBC to allow Alvarez to face an entirely different foe.
“As the representative of Canelo,” said Reynoso during the WBC convention. “I am here to ask the World Boxing Council, the next fight for Canelo will be cruiserweight champion [Ilunga] Makabu for May or June.”
As Reynoso’s words reverberated throughout the meeting room, those who were in attendance let out a loud gasp.
Long before Alvarez claimed every world title at 168 pounds, the Mexican product snagged the WBO light heavyweight crown against former titlist, Sergey Kovalev. Though Alvarez scored the 11th round stoppage victory, Reynoso urged Alvarez to refrain from fighting at 175 pounds. In addition to the words of Reynoso, Alvarez also openly admitted that fighting above 168 pounds wasn’t ideal.
Regardless of their original thoughts, Reynoso has seemingly had a change of heart. In Makabu, the 34-year-old has gone on a near decade-long undefeated run. The pinnacle of the South African resident's career, came on January 31st, 2020.
On the night, Makabu eked out a close unanimous decision victory over Michal Cieslak to win the vacant WBC crown. Since then, Makabu has defended his world title with a seventh-round stoppage win over Olanrewaju Durodola.
Although Reynoso made his feelings clear that his pound-for-pound star would love nothing more than to vie for a world title in a fifth division, the decision, ultimately, resided in the hands of Mauricio Sulaiman.
While he was initially taken aback, Sulaiman, and the entire WBC sanctioning body, wasted no time in making their decision.
“This is a very big surprise," said Sulaiman. "But the WBC has approved unanimously for Saul Canelo Alvarez to fight for the cruiserweight championship of the world.”
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