It was not business as usual when the Mexican boxing icon Canelo Alvarez recently participated in a peculiar interview.
The boxer took part in a playful challenge in bid to promote his upcoming bout with William Scull. During the promotional press conference, the interviewer line-listed all the legendary as well as present fighters subjecting Canelo to respond with a punch whenever he heard a name of whoever was stronger than him inside the ropes.
Álvarez has had a remarkable career progression. He turned professional at 15, shortly after his championship at the Junior Nationals, since his trainers at the time, father-and-son team Chepo and Eddy Reynoso, were unable to secure suitable junior rivals for him. In his first 19 months as a professional, he knocked out eleven of his 13 documented opponents, all of whom were considerably older.
READ: Canelo Finally Admits That There Is One Rival Better Than Him
The interviewer line-listed a good number of Alvarez’s past challengers, such as Caleb Plant, Edgar Berlanga, and Gennady Golovkin. Others include Bernard Hopkins and Julio Cesar Chavez. The rules were simple: Punch the interviewer if Alvarez heard a better boxer than himself.
The interview took an unexpected turn when Canelo admitted two of his past rivals who got the best of him in their respective bouts. It was until Dmitry Bivol’s name featured is when Canelo struck. He responded by landing a punch on the reporter’s shoulder.
“That night he was better than me,” Canelo self-confessed, in reference to his 2022 defeat to Bivolin their light heavyweight contest.
The interviewer further continued, mentioning Floyd Mayweather, eliciting another punch from the boxer.
“At that moment he was better than me,” Alvarez admitted, referring to his 2013 loss to Mayweather. The defeat remains as the only clear one in his career aside from the Bivol match.
The light-hearted build-up was wrapped with the mention of Muhammad Ali, a boxing legend whom Canelo further reacted to with another punch, concluding the fun exchange
Elsewhere, Mexican boxer continues to prepare for his next fight scheduled for May 3 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, against Cuban William Scull. In 2021, Álvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) became the first and only boxer in history to become the undisputed super middleweight champion, holding this distinction until July 2024.
The Mexican fighter who has held multiple world championships in four weight classes will try to defeat Scull and become the unified supermiddleweight champion again. However, according to his manager the opponent will not be easy. Eddy Reynoso, has already shared with his pupil about the risks of facing the Caribbean boxer.
The trainer recalled that Scull is an unbeaten fighter with a record of 23 wins in 23 fights and nine knockouts. Further, he is a fighter hungry for victory, who will embark on the ropes with nothing to lose, but a lot to gain.
“This is the fight of my life,” Scull said of the fight against Canelo. “I know I’m not known in the world, but I have a title won in the ring and I knew Canelo was going to come for my belt, my turn came,” said Scull in a press interview.
