HE STOPS SHORT OF PLACING HIMSELF AMONG THE ICONS OF MEXICAN BOXING, BUT CANELO ALVAREZ FULLY REALIZES THAT HIS LEGACY AND HIS COUNTRY’S HISTORY OF EXCELLENCE ARE INTERTWINED FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE – AND HE TAKES THAT RESPONSIBILITY VERY SERIOUSLY By Ernesto Amador THE STANDARD- BEARER
I ’ve covered Canelo Alvarez’s pro career from its beginning in 2005 and I’ve known him personally for almost 18 years. I’ve written more articles on the Mexican sensation than I can remember and have called many of his major fights as a blow-by-blow commentator for Univision, Televisa, Fox Deportes and the Spanish-language international broadcasts for ESPN and Golden Boy Promotions. He has always been professional and a gentleman, even now that I’m an independent journalist. Canelo was in good spirits when I interviewed him via Zoom from his home in San Diego during the press tour for the Terence Crawford fight. He understands that he’s facing one of the most talented fighters in one of the biggest events of his Hall of Fame career, but he was relaxed and very open when we spoke. The interview was conducted in Spanish and translated (by me) to English for this article.
The Ring: Following your decision over William Scull – and I can’t recall a performance as disappointing as Scull’s – I heard you asked Turki Alalshikh for a smaller ring for your fight against Terence Crawford, and Terence didn’t like that. Canelo Alvarez: Of course. At the end of the day, what we want to offer is a good fight. My job, my responsibility, is to give the fans a good fight, and that can be achieved in a smaller ring. We don’t need a big ring. The Ring: What was your reaction when you heard that Crawford wanted to fight you? We must remember it was Crawford who kept insisting on this fight. CA: That’s right. At first, I didn’t pay much attention, because I had other fights lined up. You know me and you know I don’t get distracted when I have other commitments coming up. You know that when that happens, I don’t pay attention to what’s being published or talked about. Honestly, I never thought I’d be involved in this fight, but
Illustration by Chris Wormell
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