Eléider Álvarez Baytar (born 8 April 1984)[2] is a Colombian professional boxer who held the WBO light-heavyweight title from 2018 to 2019.

[7] At the PanAms 2007 he beat southpaw Julio Castillo 10:8 and upset Cuban favorite Yusiel Napoles in the final by KO in round 3.

[14][15] In February 2013, Promoter Yvon Michel confirmed that Álvarez would returning to the Bell Centre on the undercard of Adonis Stevenson vs. Darnell Boone II on 22 March.

Poulard collapsed to the canvas though he managed to get up on his feet, it was not enough to convince referee Marlon Wright, who waved off the fight at the 2:08 mark in the third.

[18] On 25 March, Álvarez's manager Greg Leon stated it was likely he fight Allan Green (32-4, 22 KOs) on the Lucian Bute vs. Jean Pascal undercard on 25 May in a WBA eliminator at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

[22] Álvarez eventually fought his toughest fight against Edison Miranda (35-8, 30 KO's) on the Stevenson-Cloud undercard on 28 September at the Bell Centre.

Álvarez was originally due to fight South African contender Thomas Oosthuizen for the vacant WBC Silver light heavyweight title in January instead of Gardiner.

The cut over Liebenberg's left eye re-opened in round 7 and after advice from the ringside physician, referee Frank Garza stopped the fight at 1 minute, 54 seconds, giving Ávarez the win.

[31] On 11 May 2015 Álvarez was added to the Erislandy Lara vs. Delvin Rodriguez card on 12 June at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.

[32] On 8 June, Groupe Yvon Michel announced that Álvarez, along with stablemates Artur Beterbiev and Oscar Rivas had signed with powerful American adviser Al Haymon.

[34] On 15 July, in Montreal, at the press conference of Lucian Bute vs. Andrea Di Luisa, it was confirmed that Álvarez would fight unbeaten Paraguayan Isidro Ranoni Prieto (24-0-3, 20 KOs).

[36] The teams of Álvarez and Chilemba started talks on 26 August 2015 and within a month agreed the terms for their fight, avoiding purse bids.

[43] Instead, New Zealand southpaw Robert Berridge (27-4-1, 21 KOs) stepped in to fight Álvarez in a 10-round bout on 29 July at the Videotron Centre.

[45] Álvarez returned to the ring on 10 December, headlining his own card at the Montreal Casino in Quebec against Polish boxer Norbert Dąbrowski (19-5-1, 7 KOs).

[46][47] Álvarez was unable to stop Dąbrowki, who proved to be a tough opponent, however won a wide unanimous decision with the scores of 97-93, 98-92, 99-91.

[48] On 6 December 2016 prior to defeating Dąbrowki, a bout with former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (32-3-1, 25 KOs) was in the works to take place on 25 February 2017 in Quebec.

Promoter Yvon Michel explained the reason for the bout was due to the fallout of the potential rematch between Bute and Jean Pascal.

[58] On September 8, 2017 mutual promoter Yvon Michel disclosed that there was serious ongoing negotiations between Stevenson and Álvarez to fight before the end on 2017.

[61] On 8 November, there was rumours stating that Stevenson would once again pay Álvarez a step-aside fee, in order to fight Badou Jack.

The WBC went on to state they would order Álvarez to fight Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Gvozdyk (14-0, 12 KOs) for the interim title.

Yvon Michel admitted he was working on a deal to keep Álvarez happy and this was the same reason as to why tickets had not yet gone on sale for the Stevenson-Jack fight, which was a month away.

[67] On 18 April 2018 it was announced that a deal had been reached for Álvarez to challenge Sergey Kovalev (32-2-1, 28 KOs) for the WBO light heavyweight title on HBO.

[70] In front of a sold-out crowd of 5,642 at the Estess Aena, Álvarez won the fight via TKO in round 7 to claim the WBO title.

[78] In September 2018, Duva stated the bout would likely take place towards the end of January 2019 on the East Coast, as it would be a good distance for Canadian fans to drive to.

[80] A week later it was announced the fight would take place on 2 February 2019 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, best known for being the Dallas Cowboys’ training facility.

[82] On 20 December 2018 Álvarez signed a multi-year co-promotional deal with Top Rank, which would see his future bouts televised on ESPN.

Promoter Yvon Michel stated unifications were now more possible than before, apart from a fight with Artur Beterbiev, who Marc Ramsey also trains.

[85] In front of 4,877 fans at the Ford Center, Kovalev put on an incredible performance to regain the WBO title after defeating Álvarez by a 12 round unanimous decision and became a three-time light heavyweight titleholder.

[90] On 20 March, it was reported that former super middleweight world title challenger Jesse Hart (25-2, 21 KOs) was the leading contender to fight Álvarez.

[92] It was reported on 3 May, whilst in training, Álvarez had suffered a torn ligament in his foot, meaning his ring return would be delayed.