Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has been fighting since his teenage years and now the decorated pound-for-pound star has named who he says is his favourite boxer of all time.
Alvarez, now aged 33, is not only a multi-weight world champion but is also widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of his era. To his fans worldwide, he preaches ‘No boxing, no life’ which conveys just how much he love the sport.
Throughout his 20-year career, Alvarez has witnessed numerous elites grace the global stage and has fought many of them, from Floyd Mayweather to Dmitry Bivol.
Those two men are the only ones to have beaten Canelo, while he has fought and defeated big contemporary names like Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, Danny Jacobs, and John Ryder.
He of course also had a famous and high-level trilogy with Kazakhstan’s middleweight wrecking ball Gennady Golovkin, who he, some say, rather controversially beat in close contests that are some of the best in recent years.
In the past, ‘Canelo’ has referenced several fighters that he enjoys including Teofimo Lopez, Vasyl Lomachenko, Terence Crawford and Ryan Garcia. Interestingly, Alvarez seems to have a penchant for lightweight and welterweight boxers, and those who exhibit great technical skills in the ring.
Now, speaking to DAZN, he has been asked about who he rates the most out of any boxer of all time.
“My favourite boxer is Muhammad Ali.”
Canelo himself is now deep in camp for his next fight on his traditional Cinco De Mayo fight date. He is currently the undisputed super middleweight world champion with all four belts the IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA in his possession.
He defends those titles on May 4 in Las Vegas against fellow Mexican Jaime Munguia who also recently fought John Ryder but managed to knock him down and stop him, while Canelo managed only a points win.
At the first weigh-in, fans noted the big size difference between Munguia and the smaller Canelo, though Canelo is used to fighting bigger men having moved up to light heavyweight and had success against Sergey Kovalev to win a world title.
With a plethora of titles in four weight classes and headlining numerous pay-per-view events that have raked in tens of millions of dollars, the Mexican sensation has undoubtedly cemented his place among the elite in the sport of boxing and this latest defence is another chance to secure that legacy.
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