Canelo Alvarez is no longer the undisputed super-middleweight champion. But does it affect him one bit? The Mexican boxing icon has decorated himself with world titles and various other accolades since he made his professional debut in 2005. But now, the 34-year-old Guadalajara native wants to dictate terms in the fight business. Alvarez’s vision is clear — he is the A-side, and therefore it is his way or the highway.

At this stage of his career, Canelo will only be lured into financially lucrative fights, to the point that he is willing to evade matchups with his mandatory challengers. David Benavidez, anyone? However, Canelo is beginning to pay the consequences. Not long ago, the International Boxing Federation stripped Canelo of his 168-pound title after he failed to make a mandatory title defense fight against IBF’s No. 1 contender, William Scull, in their predetermined time. He thereby became a unified champion down from an undisputed one. Now, the Mexican superstar will be defending his WBA, WBC, and WBO titles against Edgar Berlanga on September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

In an interview with Fight Hub TV, Alvarez was asked if he was bothered about IBF’s decision to strip him of his 168-pound title. The boxing star responded with three words — “I don’t care”. At the same time, he stated that he respected the IBF’s decision. “I respect the commission. If that’s the way to do it, it’s fine.”

Notably, Alvarez added the IBF strap to his other super-middleweight title collection after defeating Caleb Plant in November 2021, becoming an undisputed champion in the process. Now, the IBF will order a vacant title fight between Scull and No. 2 contender Vladimir Shiskin.

Interestingly, Canelo Alvarez used the same three words when responding to the accusations of ducking top-level contenders.

Critics don’t faze Canelo!

Canelo Álvarez has asked for an astronomical sum to lock horns against elite boxers like David Benavidez and Terence Crawford. On that note, there has been criticism from several quarters of the boxing community that Canelo Alvarez is picking and choosing his opponents carefully, to avoid another loss on his boxing record. Therefore, certain boxing fans put Berlanga in the category of an easy opponent who wouldn’t pose any threat to Canelo’s legacy.

Responding to those accusations in the recent DAZN interview, Alvarez stated, ” I don’t really care. They always say something. They are always critical about me. I fight everybody, and no matter what, they say something.”