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Exclusive: Canelo Alvarez remains pound-for-pound best, says WBC president

Canelo Alvarez is looking to bounce back against a familiar face in Gennadiy Golovkin. They will face off on Mexican Independence Weekend.

Canelo - the current undisputed super middleweight world champion - will defend all four of his world titles against Golovkin on September 17.

The pair fought to a draw in their first encounter in 2017 before Canelo edged a majority decision win in 2018.

Canelo is looking to bounce back following defeat to Dmitry Bivol in May. The Mexican was outpointed for the WBA light heavyweight title - a loss which has seen Canelo demoted from the pound-for-pound best to outside of the top five by the Ring Magazine.

Mauricio Sulaiman applauded Canelo for his efforts and despite losing to Bivol, he still believes the 31-year-old is the pound-for-pound best.
"I have Canelo as the number one pound-for-pound but the pound-for-pound list is a very it's a fun game," Sulaiman told Planet Sport.
"But now for those who take it very seriously, they have to be struggling very hard. This year we have had results that are unbelievable.

"Of course, Canelo losing, [Tyson] Fury making a statement. [Jermell] Charlo becoming undisputed, [Devin] Haney becoming undisputed, [Naoya] Inoue with an unbelievable demonstration, [Artur] Beterbiev with an unbelievable demonstration.

"Errol Spence, [Terence] Crawford - there are so many great fighters out there. And if you talk about women, there's also unbelievable quality and talent.

"So for those who enjoy doing the pound-for-pound, they're going to have a good time but a very challenging time because it's not easy.
"There are so many great fighters out there that can claim to be the pound-for-pound king," the WBC president added.

When speaking about the upcoming trilogy between Canelo and Golovkin, Sulaiman predicted the third to be even better than the first two installments.

"They have been in the ring for 24 rounds. Each round has been close. Both fights were very close. Very exciting, dramatic.
"And I am sure the trilogy will be as good if not better than the previous fights between them two."

Beterbiev 'tremendous'

Artur Beterbiev - a fighter previously linked with a fight against Canelo - unified the light heavyweight division with a stunning second round win over Joe Smith Jr.
He now holds three of the four world titles with just Dmitry Bivol's WBA title the only belt to elude him.

The 37-year-old is set to take on Anthony Yarde later this year in London, according to promoter Frank Warren.

"He's just so powerful and he's starting to box now and he used some boxing skills against Smith - and simply was very smart, very patient," said Sulaiman.
"He didn't fall into the slugfest that Smith tried to [force him into] and he used overpowered him [with] tremendous power.
"Eighteen wins, 18 knockouts is a tremendous asset to the sport."
Referring back to the pound-for-pound list, Sulaiman added: "As I said, if you look at the list - Inoue, Haney, but you know, Canelo it is unfair to simply just drop him out.
"He lost a fight that he did not need to take - he moved up in weight. But I still think you know, he's been there for several years. And it's so easy just to throw them out. But I don't like to be that way."

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