Canelo Alvarez had a simple message for all the haters criticizing his upcoming matchup with John Ryder.
Alvarez defends his super middleweight titles against Ryder on May 6 during Cinco de Mayo weekend in Guadalaraja — notably being the first time he has fought in his native Mexico since 2011.
For Alvarez, the fact that he’s competing back home is special in itself — not least of all because he’s doing it while he’s still in his prime.
“After all I’ve been doing in boxing, I think it’s very special for me,” Alvarez told TMZ. “This fight is very special for me to bring my people the same experience as me.
“I come to my hometown as the best fighter, not almost retired and everything. I’m coming from being the best and that’s special for the people, too.”
Of course, for many, this is a foregone conclusion. Alvarez is a massive favorite over Ryder and many have criticized his decision to face him.
But for the Mexican superstar, he simply points to how many felt he would easily defeat Dmitry Bivol as well — only to end up suffering his second career defeat to the Russian.
“They said the same thing about Bivol — it was an ‘easy fight’ and you saw what happened, right,” Alvarez said. “Any fight is dangerous. You never know in boxing.”
In reality, Bivol was always going to be a tough fight. Not only is he the bigger man, but he’s also arguably the best light heavyweight on the planet along with Artur Beterbiev.
Alvarez was thoroughly outboxed and outclassed by Bivol when they met in their light heavyweight title fight in May last year and the rematch is something he’s targeting before the end of 2023.
“Everybody knows I want that rematch with Bivol,” Alvarez added. “That’s my goal this year. We’ll see but that’s my goal this year.”
Someone won’t be happy about that.
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