Eleider Alvarez set for May 5th return at cruiserweight

Groupe Yvon Michel recently announced that after nearly two years on the sidelines, former light heavyweight champion Eleider Alvarez will return to action on May 5th in a cruiserweight bout against TBA.

Alvarez (25-2, 13 KO), who famously flattened Sergey Kovalev for the WBO title in 2018 before losing it in their rematch, hasn’t fought since a one-sided knockout loss to Joe Smith Jr. in August 2020. He turns 38 in just a few days, and while he’s always been a highly skilled fighter, it’s hard to see him making much of an impact in the 200-pound ranks.

I suppose beating a few low-level guys at cruiserweight would be a nicer end to his career than the Smith debacle. Let’s just hope he doesn’t try to push his luck.

“I’m coming back to boxing to prove to myself that I still have great years to come and titles to conquer at cruiserweights,” Alvarez declared.

Well, that’s not good.

The other two featured attractions are super lightweights Mazlum Akdeniz (16-0, 8 KO) and Mathieu Germain (20-2-1, 9 KO). The press release calls both of them “prospects,” but seeing as Germain is 32 and has knockout losses to Uriel Perez and Yves Ulysse Jr. among his last five fights, that’s not the term I’d use.