WBC and WBA super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez defends his belts against mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim in the main event of Saturday’s DAZN card at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (DAZN, 7 p.m. ET).
Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) unified the titles by defeating Callum Smith by unanimous decision in December. That was Alvarez’s first fight since becoming a free agent following his fallout with long-time promoter Golden Boy.
Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs) is coming off a debatable technical decision loss to Anthony Dirrell in February 2020. Dirrell suffered a cut over his left eye due to an unintentional clash of heads, and the fight was stopped and sent to the scorecards. Two judges had the fight for Dirrell 96-94 and the third had it for Yildirim 98-92. Yildirim’s other loss was a KO against Chris Eubank Jr. in 2017. Yildirim remained Alvarez’s WBC mandatory challenger after the loss.
In the co-main event, McWilliams Arroyo (20-4, 15 KOs) faces Abraham Rodriguez (27-2, 13 KOs) in a 12-round battle for the WBC interim flyweight title. Arroyo was scheduled to face full titleholder Julio Cesar Martinez, but Martinez was forced to withdraw on Thursday with a fractured right hand.
Also on the card, heavyweight Zhilei Zhang (22-0, 17 KOs) takes on Jerry Forrest (26-4, 20 KOs) in a 10-round fight and super middleweight blue-chip prospect Diego Pacheco (10-0, 8 KOs) meets Rodolfo Gomez Jr. (14-4-1, 10 KOs) in an eighth-round bout.
Fight in progress: Diego Pacheco vs. Rodolfo Gomez Jr., 8 rounds, super middleweights
Results:
Marc Castro def. John Moraga by fourth-round KO
Fight recap coming up …
Still to come:
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Title fight: Canelo Alvarez vs. Avni Yildirim, 12 rounds, for Alvarez’s WBC and WBA super middleweight titles
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Title fight: McWilliams Arroyo vs. Abraham Rodriguez, 12 rounds, for the WBC flyweight interim title
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Zhilei Zhang vs. Jerry Forrest, 10 rounds, heavyweights
