A few days ago, the undisputed 168-pound super middleweight champion Carneiro Alvarez was seriously questioned by fans, and a war of words on the Internet was staged because it was initially pointed out that Alvarez has only played one fight in the division so far since he unified 168 pounds in 2021, and it is difficult to convince the public, and at the same time, he is considered unworthy of undisputed supremacy.
Nowadays, more and more people are joining the scolding war, including many well-known people in the industry.
Alvarez will take the stage again in May, and his opponent is yet to be determined, and he may choose either Guimar Charlow or Terence Crawford, but no matter who he chooses, neither is a 168-pound fighter, with Charlo being the 160-pound middleweight WBC champion and Crawford being the undisputed former 147-pound welterweight champion.
People are tired of Alvarez playing against fighters outside the 168-pound pound, finding them easier to deal with, and feeling that Alvarez is deliberately dodging two of the division's biggest men—David Benavidez and David Morrell.
Since defeating Caleb Plant in 2021 to claim all four belts at 168 pounds, Alvarez has only faced one fighter in his division last year, John Rhett, and in the eyes of many, Rhett is a second-rate player who is very safe for Alvarez, while the rest of his opponents are either Gennady Golovkin at 160 pounds or Gimel Charlo at 154 pounds.
Alvarez also faced another fighter outside of 168 pounds, that is, 175-pound light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, but unfortunately the fans did not buy it, and bluntly said that the reason why Alvarez chose Bivol was because he felt that the opponent was weak and bullied, and it was nothing more than overconfidence and finishing.
In this fight, Alvarez was supported by ESPN boxing columnist Mike Copinger, who insisted that Alvarez was not afraid of the elite 168-pound fighters, but that the commercial nature of the sport made Alvarez choose someone else. For example, before Alvarez became popular, he used to fight against good fighters such as Eris Randy Lara and Austin Trout. In particular, Copingue pointed out that when Alvarez finally became a star, he had to think more about choosing opponents, and many times he couldn't help himself.
However, another boxing columnist, Ray Jackson, disagrees with Coppinger's argument and bluntly says that Alvarez is avoiding the real 168-pound master. Jackson pointed out that Alvarez has only fought one 168-pound fighter in the past three years because the opponent is easier to deal with, and Jackson stressed that if Alvarez is not criticized and stopped, it will be a laissez-faire in professional boxing.
Jackson insisted that Alvarez's undisputed title at 168 pounds should not be praised too much, but instead blamed for never having a mandatory title defense in the division, and that the boxing organizations involved should be blamed for taking too much care of Alvarez.
Now, the question for Alvarez is, can he seek a better fight at 168 pounds? Has he lost his grit? Is he playing less risky fights to make money? Is it worth it for fans to pay a hefty fee to watch Alvarez?
If Alvarez does lose the guts to compete with the best fighters, he should give up the 168-pound belt and let the likes of Morrell, Benavidez and others fight it. Alvarez's strength and achievements are undeniable, and he has done a lot of admirable things in the early stages of his career, but it has been too long since then, and the reality is that Alvarez seems to have really stopped taking risks.