It seems men’s boxing, very soon, will have only one undisputed champion. The IBF doesn’t want to play games. Consistent with their decision last year to strip then-undisputed champion Terence Crawford of his title when he couldn’t proceed with the Jaron Ennis mandatory fight, the sanctioning body, many reports suggest, is planning to take a similar measure against none other than the face of boxing, Canelo Alvarez. The super middleweight king will face Edgar Berlanga instead of defending his IBF belt against the mandatory William Scull. Hence, the IBF, per available accounts, is considering stripping him of their championship.

So the upcoming September 14 Mexican Independence Day feature in Las Vegas may take for Canelo Alvarez’s remaining three belts, the WBC, WBA, and WBO. Berlanga, if he manages to stage the unheard-of-upset, would become a unified champion and not an undisputed one. Ever since he became the four-belt champion in 2021, Canelo Alvarez has defended his title successfully against four challengers. However, for the fifth one, it seems, the goal post has been shifted.

Canelo Alvarez: The undisputed Journey Coming to an End?

Michael Benson‘s tweet read, “Canelo Alvarez has seemingly been stripped of/vacated his IBF super-middleweight world title as he is not fighting IBF mandatory William Scull next.” Per an official press release, the post mentioned the Alvarez-Berlanga fight would happen for WBO, WBA, and WBC super middleweight titles only.

Citing sources, ESPN‘s Mike Coppinger also shared a similar report. Cuba-born Berlin resident William Scull is IBF’s number one ranking contender. The 32-year-old unbeaten fighter incidentally came off a decision win over the American Sean Hemphill at Canelo Alvarez’s Cinco de Mayo headline card.

According to the report shared by Coppinger, the IBF reportedly intends to schedule a fight for the now vacant 168-pound title between Scull and their second-ranked, unbeaten Russian Vladimir Shishkin. This year, Canelo Alvarez will be the second undisputed champion to lose the undisputed status.

Just a month after he became the heavyweight division’s first undisputed champion in 25 years, Oleksandr Usyk decided to vacate his IBF title. Thus becoming a unified champion once again. In his place, Daniel Dubois became a full champion following his elevation from the interim status. He will no longer have to defend it from Anthony Joshua on September 21 in front of a Wembley crowd.

One That Ended Previously

Last year, on July 29, boxing crowned Terence Crawford the first two-division undisputed champion among men. But his happiness proved short-lived. A few months later, IBF had required him to defend his IBF title from the mandatory challenger and then interim title holder, Jaron Ennis. The fight negotiations were to be wrapped up by September 24.

But, unfortunately, the rematch clause bound the welterweight champion. It was a part of the fight agreement with Errol Spence Jr. In early September, ‘Big Fish’ invoked the clause. However, the IBF seemingly does not follow the convention; other sanctioning bodies follow. It reportedly does not accept a rematch clause as a valid reason to delay or avoid a mandatory title defense. Given the constraints he faced, Terence Crawford couldn’t proceed. IBF stripped him of the IBF title, and Jaron Ennis gained his first world championship.

What’s your take on IBF’s suggested step? Will it have any impact on Canelo Alvarez’s future fights?