Canelo Alvarez has been crowned the best of fighter of 2021 by the WBC. At a ceremony in Mexico, Canelo’s homeland, boxing’s famed governing body handed the award to Canelo following a stellar 12 months that saw the 31-year-old clean out the 168lbs division as he became undisputed champion at super-middleweight.
Starting at the backend of 2020, Canelo produced a dominant display to widely outpoint Callum Smith to become the number one fighter in his weight class. Stoppage victories over Avni Yildrim and Billy Joe Saunders in the first five months of this year solidified Canelo’s credentials but it was November’s win over Caleb Plant that gave the Mexican every title available in the division.
Not content on ruling one weight category, Canelo has already confirmed that his immediate future lies at cruiserweight, and he’s made his intentions clear who he wants next. Junior Makabu defends his WBC crown next month against Thabiso Mchunu and the winner faces Canelo next. A win there for the four-weight world champion could see him collect this gong once more in 2022.