C anelo Alvarez is scheduled to face at age 36 he would have thoughts of moving on from the sport. But retirement is the last thing on his mind. Alvarez, who turned pro in 2005, cemented his Hall of Fame credentials long ago, but he gave a very simple answer when asked what keeps him going. “Being a world champion again,” he told The Ring in July. “Being a world champion, making good fights. I’m always thinking about it. Every time I fight, I break records. So that’s one of the things that motivates me.” WBC super middleweight titleholder Christian Mbilli in October. Already a veteran of 68 professional bouts (63- 3-2, 39 KOs), you would think that For Canelo, defeating the hard-charging Mbilli (who he described as “a good fighter, very aggressive” with “so much talent, so much stamina”) would be another notch in his belt. However, a victory over The Ring’s No. 3-rated super middleweight would be far from the most notable achievement of his storied career. When you examine his resume, it’s arguably the deepest in the sport today.
A DREAM DELAYED STILL HUNGRY
Austin Trout (UD 12) April 20, 2013, for vacant Ring junior middleweight championship and WBC title
No, he didn’t win them all, but he certainly won more than his share. From the time he began his apprenticeship in the sport as a teenager in Guadalajara to his U.S. debut as a bright prospect to becoming a marketable young champion, Canelo consistently evolved. He harnessed his talents and honed his skills to a point where he wasn’t just a star, but someone who actually carried the sport post-Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. In an era when boxing was becoming less and less important to the general public, the sport still took center stage on the nights Canelo performed. You could argue that there were a few boxers who were superior in skill, but there’s no doubt about who was most important to the visibility of boxing over the past decade or so. Years from now, what Canelo did – and how often he did it against quality opposition – will be fully acknowledged for the impact it had on boxing. Ask yourself this: When the four-division champion does make that decision to finally walk off into the sunset, who will be there to take the mantle from him? The Ring asked Canelo to take a look back at some of his most memorable victories and give his thoughts:
“Every single fighter is difficult, but if he’s a southpaw [like Trout] – even more. But I take risks, and [I’ve loved] to take challenges since I was young. I don’t care. This is a sport where you can lose, you can win, and you never prepare yourself to lose. That happens. You need to accept it and move on, move forward and learn from that and keep fighting.” Erislandy Lara (SD 12) July 12, 2014, non-title bout “Oh my God, difficult and frustrating. And I frustrated myself, because he moved around and never stayed around to make it a good fight. He’s a very difficult fighter, very difficult. So that was a very difficult fight. Of course [I thought I won,] because I did everything to win. And he wanted to win – but how? When you’re in there with pressure, pressure, you do everything to win, but you can’t win without throwing punches and just moving around a lot. You need to stay in there and make sure you win.”
30 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
RINGMAGAZINE.COM 31
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker