CANELO ALVAREZ has been described as ‘the full package’ by his former opponent Avni Yildirim who claims: ‘His uppercuts are brutal’.
Canelo is boxing’s top attraction, with world titles in four divisions from light-middleweight to light-heavyweight.
He currently reigns as unified super-middleweight champion after three fights at the 168lb division.
Avni Yildirim is one of those to have experienced the Mexican star’s greatness first hand and opened up about the harsh reality of sharing the ring with him.
Yildirim told SunSport: “He is strong. And he’s basically the full package. Hard-hitting, very accurate and fast at the same time.
“Canelo’s counterpunching, his body shots and his uppercuts are brutal. I also mentioned his defensive movements.
“It’s really hard to hit him and you’re very likely to get hit at the same time.”
Canelo, 31, left with the WBC and WBA titles in December 2020 after dominating Liverpool’s Callum Smith, 31, over 12 rounds.
And following a routine three-round stoppage over Yildirim, 30, in February, three months later he faced Billy Joe Saunders, 31, in a unification.
It took Canelo eight rounds to break Saunders down and leave the previously unbeaten Brit with FOUR face fractures.
Alvarez is left needing just Caleb Plant’s IBF title to become undisputed champion for the first time in his illustrious career.
They fight this weekend in Las Vegas, and Plant, 29, will have to do what no man other than Floyd Mayweather, now 44, has done.
Mayweather is the only blemish on Canelo’s 59-fight record, after giving the then-23-year-old a boxing lesson.
He is strong. And he’s basically the full package. Hard-hitting, very accurate and fast at the same time.
Avni Yildirim
But Yildirim doubts lightening will strike twice in a cold warning to Plant.
He said: “If Plant could outbox him, he should do it. But it’s not gonna happen. But he’s also not gonna win in a slugfest.
“As I said I don’t give Plant a big chance in this one. I don’t see how Canelo can be beaten at the moment.
“Of course, you can try to fight him from the outside but he will find a way to get close enough to land those hard combinations.
“And if you go in for a shootout you will probably lose because Canelo is so good defensively and an excellent counter puncher. I don’t see how Plant can beat him.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
