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Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is not concerned about a size disadvantage when he plans to make a serious leap in weight in 2022.
Jumping up by 32-pounds, Canelo intends to challenge WBC cruiserweight world champion Ilunga Makabu in May of next year.
Earlier this month, Canelo unified the entire super middleweight division when he knocked out Caleb Plant at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Canelo has now captured world titles at junior middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight.
No Mexico-born fighter has captured world titles in five weight divisions.
Canelo has never fought beyond the light heavyweight limit of 175. He moved up to light heavyweight in 2019, and captured the WBO world title when he knocked out Sergey Kovalev. In the aftermath of that victory, Canelo vacated his title and dropped down to the super middleweight limit of 168.
The four division champion is very motivated to move up to face a hard punching beltholder at the cruiserweight max of 200-pounds.
Makabu believes Canelo is finally biting off a little more than he can chew.
For his part, Canelo is not planning to put a lot of mass for the contest. He explains that he’ll enter the ring for this upcoming assignment at around 180-pounds.
“I’m a very smart fighter. I believe in my power and my skills, so this is why we’re going to try [to win the title at cruiserweight]. It’s a great challenge and a question of twenty kilos. It’s a fifty/fifty challenge, but I feel very strong. I love challenges and making history. That`s why I’m here, and I like this challenge. We will see if it is the most difficult challenge of my career on that day,” Canelo said.