By: Hans Themistode
The last time Canelo Alvarez was seen inside of the ring, he was being lifted into the air by trainer Eddie Reynoso shortly after leaving Sergey Kovalev slumped over the bottom ropes. The win gifted Alvarez with several awards. He was moved up by most to the number one spot on their pound for pound list. More importantly though, Alvarez picked up Kovalev’s WBO Light Heavyweight title.
Fighters often devote their entire careers to becoming a champion, but for Alvarez, a multiple time champion across four weight classes, simply tossed his newly won trinket to the side and opted for a move to the Super Middleweight division. Now, with the WBO title up for grabs, we are getting closer to who will claim the vacant strap.
Light Heavyweight contenders Eleider Alvarez and Joe Smith Jr. have come to an agreement for a title eliminator with a speculative date of July 16th being tossed around. The MGM Grand Convention Center in Las Vegas Nevada has emerged as the frontrunner in terms of the location.
Both men are in familiar positions coming off bounce back wins. For Smith, he was lethargic and apathetic in a loss against Dmitry Bivol in 2019, but he looked like a completely different man against Jesse Hart. He rocked the Philadelphia native earlier this year and dominated much of the contest. Ignore the split decision victory as much of the contest was in the favor of Smith. As for Eleider Alvarez, the former world title holder immediately dropped his title against former belt holder Sergey Kovalev.
Paying for that loss was Michael Seals. Alvarez landed a picture perfect right hand in the seventh round to place himself back in the winners circle.
Now, with both men finding a bit of momentum, there could be an even bigger prize for the winner of their contest.
With a victory, either man could be in line to face the winner of Maksim Vlasov vs Umar Salamov for the vacant WBO title.