Jose Perez, co-manager of super middleweight contender Avni Yildirim, realizes that his boxer has a very tough mountain to climb on February 27th, when he faces WBC, WBA champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in Miami, Florida.
Yildirim is the WBC’s mandatory challenger.
Canelo, regarded by many as the top pound-for-pound fighter in boxing, captured the two titles last month in Texas, when he dominated unbeaten Callum Smith over twelve rounds.
While Smith was defensive and tried his best to stay behind a jab, Canelo’s pressure was too much for him to handle and the contest became a very one-sided affair.
Yildirim is not looking to play defense, he intends to roll the dice by bringing the fight to Canelo.
One thing Perez will guarantee, is that his boxer will put in a better performance than Smith.
“It’s going to be interesting, competitive. God only knows what’s going to happen. I recommend you go see it. You won’t regret it, because Avni is very motivated and is going to give himself up completely. Is that enough? I can’t say for sure, but it’s going to be better than Canelo’s previous fight,” Perez told George Ebro.
“Callum Smith tried to survive. The Turk doesn’t come to do that. He’s coming to win or lose. Either I kill you or you kill me. He’s got nothing to lose. Supposedly, he doesn’t have a chance of winning. And a man who is not given a chance is a dangerous man. That’s what I can tell you.
“I must say that Canelo has acted like a gentleman and is keeping his word. Eddie Hearn has acted like a gentleman and we have to thank Luis DeCubas Jr. and Al Haymon, who have been part of the negotiation.
“Canelo is not dumb. All I see is that he’s taking this lightly. He started training a few days ago. I’m sure Canelo is underestimating the Turk. He didn’t do that with Callum Smith. Let him keep him doing that. Look at what happened between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz. There are many examples of big upsets: Miguel Cotto vs Austin Trout, Orlando Salido vs Vasyl Lomachenko. Recently, Félix Verdejo vs Nakatani. That’s the story of boxing. You can’t underestimate anyone and Canelo and the press are underestimating [Yildirim].”