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The Big Question: Will Canelo Alvarez become undisputed super middleweight champ in 2021?

We know Canelo wants all four belts this year, but will it actually happen?

Boxing: Canelo Alvarez vs Callum Smith Ed Mulholland/Matchroom USA via USA TODAY Sports
Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

Last week’s Big Question got a bigger than normal voting turnout, being that it involved the rare actual Hot Topic that goes beyond just the diehards.

We asked who would win if Manny Pacquiao vs Ryan Garcia actually happens, and the voting was wide in Pacquiao’s favor, as he took 86 percent to a scant 14 percent for Garcia. To me, this doesn’t even seem like “hate” — there is a really good argument that even with Pacquiao at 42 and having not fought in a year and a half, the 22-year-old Garcia simply is not ready for someone that good, with that much experience. Luke Campbell is a good fighter and was a really good win for Ryan, but Pacquiao is another level, and nobody — even Campbell — would likely dispute that.

That said, right now it doesn’t look like Pacquiao-Garcia will happen, and even if it does, it might be some horseshit exhibition.

So we move on to this week. With Caleb Plant beating Caleb Truax this past Saturday night on FOX, the Tennessee native retained his IBF super middleweight title and also, bigger in the long run, his spot in line to fight Canelo Alvarez later this year.

Canelo has made clear since winning the WBC and WBA belts in December that he wants to unify all four titles at 168. He’ll first have to take care of business against WBC mandatory Avni Yildirim on Feb. 27, but a deal is already in place for him to fight WBO titlist Billy Joe Saunders in May if all goes well in a few weeks.

So here’s the question: will Canelo unify all four belts in 2021? The Saunders fight seems locked in, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason a fight with Plant couldn’t then happen between, say, September and December.

Does Canelo fight them both? If he does, does he beat them both?

Let’s complicate the voting as much as possible!

Poll

Will Canelo Alvarez become undisputed at 168 in 2021?

This poll is closed

  • 62%
    Yes
    (569 votes)
  • 26%
    No, he won’t get both fights this year
    (237 votes)
  • 7%
    No, he’ll lose to Saunders
    (70 votes)
  • 3%
    No, he’ll lose to Plant
    (35 votes)
911 votes total Vote Now

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