© Provided by Boxing Junkie A critical look at the past week in boxing
GOOD
© Provided by Boxing Junkie Canelo Alvarez put Avni Yildirim down with a straight right between the gloves. Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing
The inclination here is to focus more on a horrible matchup than Canelo Alvarez's performance against Avni Yildirim on Saturday in Miami. After all, that fight was like the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. a Single-A minor league team, which isn't a fair matchup.
However, we can still appreciate to some extent the fact that Alvarez pitched a perfect game in three one-sided rounds.
The vicious but cold, methodical attack. The hard, precise punches, particularly to the body. Alvarez landed an eye-popping 58.6 of his power shots, according to CompuBox. The uncanny ability to avoid punches. Yildirim connected on 11 shots total. The complete dominance. It's brutal but also a work of art.
Indeed, Alvarez, 30, has become a virtuoso. More and more knowledgeable people are saying that the Mexican superstar is all but beatable, at least against those who weigh 168 pounds or less. And they might be right.
Such hyperbole used to be reserved for Floyd Mayweather, the only man to beat Alvarez. Now it's the victim's turn in the spotlight.
He might have to be pitted against the best light heavyweights to meet his match, although he already beat one 175-pounder in Sergey Kovalev. So even then, against naturally bigger men, no one would be surprised if he managed to have his hand raised.
So the search is on for a giant killer, if one exists.
Once again, a victory over the profoundly limited Yildirim - even one as thorough as this one - is about as far from a defining moment as you can get. Dodgers vs. minor league team. At the same time, it's always an important event when one of the best in the business does his thing.
Enjoy it while you can. Alvarez is 30. He won't be around forever.
***
BAD
© Provided by Boxing Junkie Yildirim got up from his knockdown but had no fight in him. Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing
I already posted a column suggested that Alvarez puts too much emphasis on titles and not enough on opponents.
My point was illustrated on Saturday, when it became clear that Yildirim had no business in the ring with a fighter of Alvarez's ability. The Turk had neither the tools nor the mental toughness to tangle with this Mexican beast.
That's why what we saw on Saturday really wasn't a fight; it was a legal assault.
Why did this matchup happen?
Alvarez is fixated on becoming undisputed super middleweight champion. He already holds two of the four major titles and will face Billy Joe Saunders on May 8 for a third, a fight I fear will look a lot like Alvarez's victory over Smith. The fourth could come against Caleb Plant in September.
And, in one sense, who can blame Alvarez? He has said repeatedly that he wants to make history. And many would argue that becoming the first undisputed 168-pound champion would be historic.
The problem is that we get pathetic mismatches in the process, such as the one on Saturday. Alvarez had to fight Yildirim, his mandatory challenger, in order to retain his WBC belt and keep his dream of winning all four titles alive.
OK. But here's another way of looking at it: Because a sanctioning body decides Alvarez must fight its mandatory challenger, loyal boxing fans are handed one of the most miserable matchups in recent memory.
Was it really necessary?
I'll say it again. Alvarez should be focused more on the quality of his opponents and less on increasingly meaningless title belts, which has thus far given us noncompetitive victories over Rocky Fielding, Callum Smith and Yildirim over the past few years.
Who would make for a better matchup? Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, Gennady Golovkin (a third time), David Benavidez, Caleb Plant, Artur Beterbiev, Dmitry Bivol. Take your pick.
The fans certainly deserve better than what they received on Saturday night.
***
WORSE
© File photoAlvarez demonstrates national pride after his victory.
Alvarez celebrated but what did he really accomplish? Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing
When are fighters and their handlers going to realize that the pursuit of titles often backfires?
I understand that boxers dream of winning shiny belts from the time they first take up the sport. I understand that "championships" help promoters market their fights, which boosts profits. And I understand that alphabet organizations want to make money from their dreaded sanctioning fees.
I also understand the damage that can be caused.
Alvarez's fights with Fielding, Smith and Yildirim are only recent examples. How many times have you heard the news that a titleholder would face a particular mandatory (or other) challenger and reacted by thinking, "Ugh. Please, no."
Too often? I thought so.
In what world is that a good thing? Is it really difficult for the powers that be to understand that fans crave good, reasonably competitive matchups more than anything else? In light of that revelation, why would they give them anything else?
I hear such things as, "Oh, well, it's difficult to make fights. So and so won't take this percentage of the pot. Rival outlets have difficulty working together." And so on and so on.
Fine. No one said it was going to be easy. That doesn't mean you bow to the sanctioning bodies and give fans the garbage they saw on Saturday night. Honestly, Alvarez, promoter Eddie Hearn and those at DAZN should be embarrassed by the product they presented.
This isn't really that complicated. Everyone knew going in that Yildirim was a horrible choice as an opponent for Alvarez. If you stoop that low, you get what you get.
RABBIT PUNCHES
The stand-out fighter on the Anthony Dirrell-Kyrone Davis card Saturday in Los Angeles was welterweight prospect Jesus Ramos, who put Jesus Bojorquez down with a right hook and followed up with a barrage of punches that forced the referee to stop their fight 1:44 into Round 2. Ramos (15-0, 14 KOs) has an impressive combination of ability, power and poise. And he's only 19. . Dirrell (33-2-2, 24 KOs) and Davis (15-2-1, 6 KOs) fought to a majority draw in their WBC super middleweight title-eliminator. I thought Dirrell did enough to get the nod - I had it 115-113 for him - but a draw was reasonable. Where does that leave the 36-year-old former two-time titleholder? Who knows? The winner was projected to face the winner of the March 13 David Benavidez-Ronald Ellis title-eliminator, although Dirrell had said he wants only title fights. He has to decide whether he's willing to work his way into a position to get one. .
Kudos to Jerry Forrest on his effort against heavyweight contender Khilei Zhang on the Alvarez-Yildirim card. Forrest (26-4-1, 20 KOs) went down in each of the first three rounds against his 6-foot-6 Chinese opponent, which seemed to portend an early stoppage. Instead, Forrest, who said he trained hard, battled his way back into the fight as Zhang (22-0-1, 17 KOs) grew tired and earned a majority draw. In the process, he might've stamped himself as a title contender. Zhang? The 2012 Olympian, who had designs on a rematch with Olympic foe Anthony Joshua, might think about pursuing another career. The 37-year-old had nothing to give after the fourth round other than to hold and lean on Forrest until the final bell. Maybe he expended his energy in the first three rounds. Maybe he didn't train properly. Maybe he's an old 37. . Heavyweight Joseph Parker (28-2, 21 KOs) remains a viable opponent for any heavyweight. The former titleholder defeated fellow Kiwi Junior Fa (19-1, 10 KOs) by a unanimous decision in New Zealand, Parker's fourth consecutive victory since back-to-back losses to Joshua and Dillian Whyte in 2018.
MORE:Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders title-unification set for May 8
Video: Canelo Alvarez vs. Avni Yildirim post-fight news conference
Watch it: Canelo Alvarez's beat down of Avni Yildirim
Canelo Alvarez overwhelms, stops reluctant Avni Yildirim
Anthony Dirrell, Kyrone Davis fight to draw in title eliminator