The stakes for next week’s Canelo Alvarez-Callum Smith fight have been raised once again.
In addition to the WBA super middleweight title, Matchroom Boxing, the WBC and Canelo Promotions announced that the WBC’s version of the belt also will be on the line.
The WBC belt became vacant when David Benavidez missed weight for his fight against Roamer Alexis Angulo in August. Benavidez won the fight by 10th-round TKO but was not eligible to regain the title.
The WBC also announced that the winner of Alvarez-Smith will have to face mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim, who’s ranked No. 2 by the organization.
“I am delighted that the winner of this fight will be crowned the WBC world champion at 168 pounds,” promoter Eddie Hearn said. “Canelo Alvarez is the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet, and Callum Smith is the number one super middleweight on the planet — so it is fitting for the winner to proudly wear the green and gold belt on December 19.”
Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs), the WBA “regular” titleholder who severed his working relationship with longtime promoter Golden Boy in early November, is making his first appearance since becoming a free agent. Alvarez dominated Sergey Kovalev to win a light heavyweight world title in November 2019 but hasn’t fought since then because of the coronavirus pandemic and the inability to secure an opponent.
Smith (27-0, 19 KOs) is ESPN’s No. 1-ranked super middleweight and the WBA “super” titlist. He won the WBA title by defeating George Groves in the World Boxing Super Series final in 2018. He has defended the belt twice, a TKO victory over Hassan N’Dam in June 2019 and a decision victory against John Ryder in November 2019.
Alvarez also has the WBA “super” middleweight title and is the WBC middleweight franchise champion.