Canelo Alvarez relinquishes the WBA middleweight title!
Following nearly two years of inactivity in the division, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KO’s) has finally vacated his super WBA middleweight title. As of late he has repeatedly outlined his desire to unify the super middleweight division.
To further this goal, Alvarez has already beaten Callum “Mundo” Smith and wrenched away his WBA super middleweight title, acquiring the vacant WBC title in the process as well. Now that he has dropped his middleweight hardware, Canelo has officially “legitimized” his siege of the super middleweight division.
RELATED: David Benavidez on Canelo: “I’ll Go Through Anybody to Get to Him!”
WHAT NOW?
This new development became known when the WBA published their updated December rankings. Once done it was plainly evident that Alvarez was now missing from their middleweight listings. According to the WBA’s rules, the two highest ranking fighters in that division will square off for their vacant title.
As it stands, Ryota Murata (16-2, 13 KO’s) is their ‘regular’ 160lbs champion and Chris Eubank Jr (29-2, 22 KO’s) is the interim WBA middleweight champion. The organization might simply elevate Murata to super champion which is what is typically done in this situation.
The WBA also reserves the right to award the vacant title to the interim champion. If not, the two highest ranking fighters have 30 days after the title was vacated to agree to fight.
Yet, while those are their rules we will have to wait and see what the WBA actually does now. This is because in the wacky world of boxing you can never quite be sure of what will happen next!
This move also goes a long way to dash the hopes of the remaining middleweight champions. All three, (WBO) Demetrius “Boo-Boo” Andrade (29-0, 18 KO’s), (WBC) Jermall “Hit Man” Charlo (31-0, 22 KO’s), and (IBF) Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KO’s) craved a match with Alvarez.
Yet, unless they move up to super middleweight, their fight dreams just dissolved into a stagnant puddle of disappointment.
By: Bakari Simpson
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