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Home » No surprise if Canelo Alvarez targets WBC bridgerweight champ at 200lbs+

No surprise if Canelo Alvarez targets WBC bridgerweight champ at 200lbs+

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World Boxing News predicted an inevitable event would occur in the future. That pound for pound king Canelo Alvarez would one day fight at cruiserweight.

Little did we know that it would come as quickly as it has. Canelo could be sharing the ring with WBC champion Junior Makabu as early as 2022.

WBN wrote many times that Canelo could go as high as heavyweight in his career. And with the addition of bridgerweight [201 to 224 pounds] division, that gives yet another option to the Mexican superstar.

The first-ever WBC bridgerweight champion got recently crowned in Oscar Rivas. The Colombian attended the World Boxing Council’s fifty-ninth Convention in Mexico City, celebrating his historic status.

Canelo’s trainer Eddy Reynoso was there. It would be no surprise at all if they exchanged early words for a potential fight after Makabu.

When Reynsos stood up and jaws dropped at the idea of Canelo at cruiserweight, Rivas must have given a rye chuckle, knowing he could be next for a huge payday.

Nicknamed ‘Kaboom,’ Rivas is 28-1, with 19 KO’s. He is aged 34 and defeated Ryan Rozicki for the new weight category championship.

The new weight class spans from cruiserweight to 224 pounds and is well within reach for Canelo if he can fight in the division below.

Oscar Rivas WBC Convention

Unfazed by the attention he’s gaining, Rivas spoke to media at the Convention about his elevated status in the sport.

“In the past, small heavyweights like me were giving away so many advantages to much more extensive and heavier fighters, but the bridgerweight category evens things up.

“It’s for fighters of our size and weight, so we can be evenly matched to compete. Thank God, and with full respect to Ryan, a great sportsman, I’m the first champion in this division.

“I’m so happy because it’s the culmination of my career, which includes amateur, the Olympics, and pro.”

CANELO ALVAREZ CHALLENGE

His only loss was a debated one to Dillian Whyte when giving away weight and home advantage to the Briton.

Rivas deserved a rematch he never got. However, moving to bridgerweight seems to be a happy home for him now.

If he gets the Canelo Alvarez fight, Whyte will undoubtedly be a distant memory.

Phil Jay – Editor of World Boxing News since 2010 with over one billion views. Follow WBN on Twitter @WorldBoxingNews.