Eleider Alvarez signs with Top Rank

WBO Light Heavyweight champ Eleider Alvarez has joined forces with Top Rank, who will co-promote “Storm” alongside longtime promoter Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM).

I normally just put the last names in the headline, but there’s a bit of an Alvarez glut at the moment, so I wanted to eliminate ambiguity. “Alvarez signs with Top Rank” would admittedly produce some amusing first reactions, though.

Alvarez (24-0, 12 KO) scored one of 2018’s most surprising upsets by downing Sergey Kovalev in August. Though pundits and fans acknowledged his chance to outbox “The Krusher,” few expected the notoriously feather-fisted (by design) Alvarez to turn Kovalev’s lights out in the seventh round.

Their rematch is currently booked for February 2nd on ESPN.

As Dan Rafael mentions in the article above, this deal opens the door for some very intriguing fights. Top Rank promotes both WBC light heavyweight kingpin Oleksandr Gvozdyk and current super middleweight titlist Gilberto Ramirez, who announced his intention to move up to 175 in the near future. Win or lose against Kovalev, I’d be more than happy to see Alvarez against either of those two.