Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez was close to fighting Floyd Mayweather four years before the two stepped in the ring, but was advised to wait to earn ten times the purse.
Canelo has worked to become one of the biggest, if not the biggest, star in the sport of boxing. The Mexican is a four weight world champion, and the current undisputed title holder in the 168lb super middleweight ranks.
He has just two losses from 62 fights, one of which came at the hands of the man many believe is one of the greatest to ever lace up the gloves – Floyd Mayweather.
Speaking with DAZN, Canelo revealed he was offered life-changing money at the moment he needed it most, but was advised to wait by his trainer, Eddy Reynoso.
“They offered me the fight with Floyd when I was 18 years old. They offered me $1 million. At the time I was making $5,000. I was moving around in a truck and I had three jobs.”
Eddy Reynoso said, ‘In a few years, you will receive 10x that.’ That’s what happened,”
Canelo fought seven times in 2009, all in Mexico, and was still very much in a growth stage of his pro career.
The offer from Mayweather did indeed come around again, this time in 2013 when he was 23-years-old and had some much more important victories under his belt, including Shane Mosley and Austin Trout. It was reported that he was guaranteed a purse of around $4.5 million plus a share pay-per-view sales.
He would taste defeat for the first time that night in Las Vegas, with Mayweather using all of his considerable experience to beat him to the punch and avoid what was coming back on his way to a majority decision.
Canelo would go 16 fights undefeated until coming up against light heavyweight champion, Dmitry Bivol, last year. The Russian comprehensively outboxed him, leaving him desperate for a rematch to restore some honour. That may just come this year if he beats Britain’s John Ryder on May 6.