By: Sean Crose
“The objective this year,” said Canelo Alvarez on a Tuesday conference call to promote his May fourth middleweight title bout against the highly regarded Daniel Jacobs, “is to win all the belts.” The winner of the fight with Jacobs will most certainly have the lion’s share of middleweight titles, with the IBF, WBC, and WBA Super world middleweight belts at stake. Canelo, who last fought in December against Rocky Fielding, is facing yet another high level opponent. “It’s going to be a very difficult fight,” said the man who has faced such esteemed fare as Gennady Golovkin, Miguel Cotto, and Floyd Mayweather, “especially in the first few rounds.”
Canelo, like many fans, felt that Jacobs, 35-2, bested Gennady Golovkin when the two engaged in a razor close battle back in 2017. “For me,” the 51-1-2 star said, “Jacobs won the fight.” Considering the fact that a great many feel Canelo recently lost two fights to Golovkin himself, it’s obvious the fighters isn’t afraid to continue to take on large challenges. “He’s an opponent that is very complete,” Canelo said of Jacobs. “He knows how to move in the ring – very difficult.” Canelo made it clear throughout the call that he was eager to climb new mountains.
“We know the risk of this fight,” he said, “and it is a high risk fight.” Although controversial at times, Canelo is a man who wants to buck the current tide of safety-first big name fighters. “I always dreamed of being a world champion,” he said, adding that he now wants to keep chasing glory. “That’s what motivates me – to continue writing history.” A big part of writing history, of course, is to continue to be dedicated to his craft. “I love boxing,” he said. “I love what I do and that motivates me in all my fights.”
I asked the man what the biggest lesson is that he’s learned since his first true superfight, which ended in a one-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather back in 2013 (when Canelo had arguably yet to enter his prime). “I’ve had many fights that I’ve learned (from),” he responded. “In fact, every fight.” Canelo went on to say that his entire career has been something of a growing process. “That’s what I am today,” he continued, “because of all those fights.”
“I continue to learn,” he concluded, “and I continue to put it into practice.”
Although he’s had plenty of opportunity to practice his craft against Golovkin, Canelo may not face the Kazakh again any time soon if title unification is his goal. For Demetrius Andrade currently holds the WBO world middleweight strap. Still, Golovkin, like Andrade, Jacobs, and Canelo himself, now fights on the DAZN streaming service – which means there’s a lot of big names (and potential big matches) operating under a single broadcast tent.