Jose Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council (WBC), has approved the junior middleweight fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26KOs) and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30KOs), taking place on September 14th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Sulaiman had recently been pressuring Canelo to drop his WBA title – or face the possibillity of losing his WBC title.
Last year the WBC started a rule where their champions were unable to represent a rival sanctioning body. The WBC approves unification encounters, but the winner has to vacate one of the titles in fifteen days. Canelo unified the two titles in April when he decisioned Austin Trout – and since that victory the Mexican superstar has refused to drop either belt.
“Both fighters are loyal to the council, and have always fought for championships that support our organization and September 14th at the Garden Arena in the MGM Grand is no exception,” he concluded.
When pressed for a winner, Sulaiman refused to take sides – but he doesn’t expect a knockout ending.
“I do not think the fight will be decided by a knockout. I think it will go to a decision. Both fighters have the ability to survive, adjust and hit hard – but neither has an overwhelming punch and because of their styles I see a twelve round fight. Saul Alvarez is a great champion, improves in every fight, uses his distance well, throws very precise combinations that hurt – so I see a very tough fight for both,” Sulaiman said.
