Canelo Alvarez vs. Avni Yildirim: Fight Odds, Time, Date and Live Stream

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez has settled into a comfortable rhythm of fighting twice a year, usually on Cinco de Mayo weekend and then again sometime in late fall or early winter. That pattern has been disrupted by the pandemic and mandatory challenger requirements, so the sport's biggest star finds himself fighting a little more than two months after his previous bout.

Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) is set to defend his WBA and WBC world super middleweight titles against Avni Yildirim on Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. He's coming off a comfortable unanimous-decision win over Callum Smith on Dec. 19. Despite the quick turnaround, Alvarez is expected to make light work of Yildirim, the mandatory challenger for his WBC belt.

Yilidirim (21-2, 12 KOs) is a massive underdog, hovering in the range of Buster Douglas when he shocked Mike Tyson in 1990. A win for him would be a historic upset, but it's highly unlikely this will be anything other than a tune-up fight for Alvarez as he looks to unify the titles at 168 pounds.

Alvarez vs. Yildirim Fight Info

When: Saturday, Feb. 27 at approx. 10 p.m. ET (per DAZN, main card starts 7 p.m. ET)

Where: Hard Rock Stadium in Miami

Live stream: DAZN (subscription required)

Odds: Alvarez -10,000 (bet $10,000 to win $100), Yildirim + 1,200 (via DraftKings)

While Alvarez is coming off short rest, Yildirim has had plenty of time to work on his craft since his most recent bout.

Yildirim was last in the ring in February 2019, when he lost a technical decision to Anthony Dirrell. It was just the second defeat of his career but a solid showing, as at least one judge had him up on the cards when the fight was cut short in the 10th round because of a cut on Dirrell.

Yildirim's only other defeat was in 2017, when he was knocked out by Chris Eubank Jr. All of his wins have come against middling opposition.

So despite the long layoff and the lack of a signature win, Yildirim has a career-making opportunity against Alvarez. The Turk has a chance to represent his country in a sport wherein it has had little success. To make the impossible happen, he will need to elevate his game. According to ESPN's Arda Orcal, Alvarez is familiar with Yildirim's version of pressure fighting:

"Yildirim said that the similarity in styles between him and Golovkin was one of the main reasons he was asked to join Canelo's training camp, and that both fighters had a good rapport at the time. 'But we are opponents now,' he stressed.

"Yildirim is nicknamed 'Mr. Robot,' a nod to his come-forward style in the ring. With the dynamic challenges presented by Alvarez, Yildirim has enlisted the services of world-class trainer Joel Diaz."

If Yildirim pulls off the upset, go ahead and call Diaz a miracle worker. A fighter who had "no defense whatsoever," as Diaz told Orcal, is a recipe for disaster against most top-tier opposition, but especially Alvarez.

The Mexican superstar is a vicious, calculating counterpuncher. Yildirim doesn't appear to be powerful enough to give Alvarez pause—and there might not be a fighter around who is, considering he's already survived Gennady Golovkin twice—so there shouldn't be anything stopping the champion from waiting for a hole to open up and driving a power shot through it. All he needs is a sliver of daylight to make his opponents pay, whether it's against a speedster like Amir Khan or a mauler like Sergey Kovalev.

Even if Yildirim's defense is patched up, he's going to have trouble establishing any offense of his own. Alvarez's balance, footwork and head movement are some of the best around and have made the likes of Smith and Daniel Jacobs look silly as they end up sparring with oxygen. As long as Alvarez doesn't make a fatal mistake, it's hard to see him needing more than a few rounds to dispatch Yildirim. That said, he's not taking anything for granted.

"I see a strong fighter," Alvarez said, per BoxingScene.com's Keith Idec. "I see a fighter that goes forward, obviously. He has lots of courage. He can be dangerous at any moment because he is a strong fighter. There's no doubt that I am a fighter that has more qualities, obviously. But in boxing, you must always, always be aware."

Assuming Alvarez's takes care of business Saturday, there's plenty more business to come in 2021. According to Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole, Alvarez is considering fighting Billy Joe Saunders, the WBO world super middleweight champion, in May. Iole says Alvarez is also eyeing a fight with Caleb Plant, the undefeated IBF titleholder, sometime in 2021.

If that all comes together, it would be the first time Alvarez has fought more than twice in a calendar year since 2011. Even if Saturday's fight isn't one any boxing fan had on their wishlist, that's a pretty good deal for fight fans.

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