Canelo Alvarez had a 13-month layoff before beating Callum Smith via unanimous decision last Saturday to win the WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine super middleweight titles.

The pound-for-pound kingpin’s next break could be a very abbreviated one.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán told a group of reporters Tuesday including BoxingScene.com that Alvarez is eyeing a February fight in Mexico against the sanctioning body’s 168-pound mandatory in Avni Yildirim.

“When David Benavidez did not make weight [and was stripped of his title in August], Canelo Alvarez immediately contacted the WBC. He wanted to win the WBC super middleweight title,” said Sulaimán. “He wants to defend against the mandatory contender in Avni Yildirim at the beginning of the year. We’ll be in communication with him soon.”

Alvarez told BoxingScene.com’s Keith Idec last week that he intended on fighting again in February, and Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn intimated that the opponent would be Yildirim.

The Mexican star would have to seal the deal in a 90-day window, but apparently, two months suffice, too, as he looks to return back to regularly scheduled programming fighting on his traditional dates of Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day Weekend in 2021.

Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs) has been inactive since February 2019 when he fought Anthony Dirrell and lost via 10th round technical decision.

Dirrell then lost that title to Benavidez, who in turn lost the title on the scales before his one-sided stoppage of Roamer Alexis Angulo. Alvarez, who is also a 160-pound WBC Franchise Champion, swooped in to immediately win the vacant title after he beat Smith.

Sulaimán also said that Alvarez’s status as Franchise Champion will soon be reevaluated since Alvarez wants to exclusively fight at 168 going forward.

“He has wanted to fight in Mexico for a long time. He’s a tremendous, important icon for the country. He’s the best fighter in the world. He represents so much for Mexico, and he wants to give a great moment of happiness to the country,” said Sulaimán.

But is the mostly unheralded Yildirim, who tested positive for two performance-enhancing drugs last year, a worthy opponent to take up a valuable fight from boxing’s biggest breadwinner?

After all, just two fights before facing Dirrell, Yildirim fought Jose Antonio Rodriguez Silvencia in 2018, who had a record of 3-31-3.

“I think that Yildirim is much better than people think,” said Sulaimán. “In the situation of Canelo, he had all of the rights, and he accepted in an exemplary manner to step aside and allow Canelo to fight Smith.”

Yildirim’s patience will apparently pay off, as it appears that Alvarez is preparing himself for a homecoming against the Turk.

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com