One with great skills is well-qualified to identify greatness in others. Future hall-of-famer, Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez, has had his say on the best fighter currently competing.
Despite a loss to Floyd Mayweather early in his career and a much more recent one to light heavyweight Dmitry Bivol, Álvarez hovers around the top of most pound-for-pound lists.
This weekend, he is doing what many elite fighters do – returning to unfinished business. He’s facing Gennady Golovkin again to, he hopes, close the book on a long and controversial rivalry.
Even with ‘GGG’ being at the tail end of his career, it’s a bold move for the Mexican to enter such a high-stakes fight coming off of a conclusive loss.
It’s clear Canelo backs himself to be the greatest in the fight game – proven by his collection of belts and willingness to jump between weights as and when opportunities present themselves. But who else in the sport does he acknowledge as elite?
Speaking with Insider ahead of his third fight against Golovkin, Canelo was asked who, present company excluded, was the best boxer in the world.
“Usyk is the number one in the world.”
The Mexican highlighted Oleksandr Usyk’s skills as the reasoning behind his pick.
The Ukrainian is undefeated, was undisputed at cruiserweight, and is trying hard to become undisputed at heavyweight. As opinions go, Canelo’s is a tough oneto argue with.
As for the Mexican fighter’s own case for being best in the business, one way to prove it is to do things others couldn’t. He’ll have his chance at knocking out ‘Triple G’ this weekend in Las Vegas, something 43 people have tried and failed to do – Canelo included.