Eddy Reynoso says it's not fair to ask Canelo Alvarez to fight 175-pounders
Don’t expect to see Canelo Alvarez fight Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol any time soon.
Eddy Reynoso, Alvarez’s manager and trainer, told Boxing Junkie on Thursday that it’s unfair to ask the Mexican star to fight 175-pounders because his natural weight is 168.
Alvarez stopped Sergey Kovalev in the 11th round to win a light heavyweight title in November 2019 but he moved back down to super middleweight, at which he outpointed Callum Smith to win two major titles on Dec. 19.
Alvarez has said he wants to unify all four 168-pound belts.
“The people asking for that,” said Reynoso, referring to Alvarez fighting a 175-pounder, “those are people who just want to see lose. When he was at 160, they wanted him to fight at 168. He beat a 168-pounder and now people want him to fight at 175.
“They always give a reason why he should fight heavier and heavier. Eventually they’ll say, ‘Why not fight Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury?’ These people have bad intentions. He’ll keep fighting at 168 because that’s his weight.”
Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) took a risk by challenging Kovalev, who was once on pound-for-pound lists. However, 36 at the time, he was perceived to be in decline.
Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) is 35 but he’s fresher than Kovalev was and would have a significant size and strength advantage over Alvarez. The same goes for Bivol (17-0, 11 KOs), a gifted boxer-puncher. Bivol is 30, the same age as Alvarez.
Alvarez is expected to defend his titles against Avni Yildirim next month. If he wins that fight, he plans to defend against either Billy Joe Saunders or Caleb Plant in May. He plans to fight three times this year.