Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez connects with a punch on Gennadiy Golovkin during their title fight at T-Mobile Arena Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.
Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023 | 2 a.m.
No one would question Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s place at the top of boxing as a draw; plenty would now question his place at the top of boxing from a skills perspective.
The fight
• Who: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) vs. Jermell Charlo (35-1, 19 KOs)
• When: Saturday, Sept. 30
• Where: T-Mobile Arena
• TV: $84.99 on Showtime pay-per-view
• Tickets: $405-$4,500 on axs.com
• Time: Doors at 2 p.m., pay-per-view card begins at 5 p.m. with main-event ring walks beginning at approximately 8:15 p.m.
Stock has dipped on the 33-year-old undisputed super middleweight champion going into his bout against Jermell Charlo, an undisputed champion in his own right at light middleweight, on September 30 at T-Mobile Arena. Alvarez was widely regarded as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world going into a May 2022 bout against Dmitry Bivol at T-Mobile, but he fell to a shocking unanimous-decision upset defeat in the match.
He’s won twice since then, beating Gennady Golovkin and John Ryder by unanimous decision, but has looked neither as quick nor as powerful as he has at his best. The demand to see Alvarez fight remains, as evidenced by a new three-fight deal with famed boxing adviser Al Haymon reportedly worth $100 million, but he’s now commonly rated somewhere from fourth to seventh in pound-for-pound ratings.
“I like being underestimated,” Alvarez said in a virtual workout and news conference from his training camp. “That’s what makes me excited for this fight.”
Alvarez’s decline would fit with the career arcs of many boxers who exit their primes in their mid-30s, though the greatest fighters have often found a way to extend their longevity. Advances in sports science and training techniques have also progressed to the point that some can still compete at a championship level into their 40s.
The bout against Charlo should be telling on whether Alvarez is capable of extending his window as a world-class fighter, because it’s a matchup he should dominate on paper. Alvarez says he’s prepared to do just that by overwhelming Charlo in a similar fashion to the way he cruised past eight straight top contenders before the Bivol loss.
“I understand what people say and I agree—I don’t look my best in my last two fights,” he said. “But I know why and I’m ready for this fight. We’ll see what’s going to happen. You’re going to see something different.”
The biggest change Alvarez has cited is his health. He said he fought through a lingering left hand and wrist injury for years, including in the Bivol bout, before it reached a breaking point in the third, and most recent, match with Golovkin.
Alvarez said he couldn’t make a fist without pain against Golovkin. He then underwent surgery to repair the problem and should have allowed it more time to heal, but rushed through recovery to take another bout.
A chance to fight in his native Mexico for the first time in 11 years, against Ryder over this year’s Cinco de Mayo weekend, was too much to pass up. Alvarez survived the fight unscathed—winning 32 of a possible 36 rounds on the three judges’ collective scorecards—and says his hand and wrist are now back to normal. The same is true for a meniscus injury that’s hampered him in the past.
“I feel great,” Alvarez said. “This is really one of the best camps I’ve ever had. I feel great to be able to train 100% now with my left hand. That’s made me more confident. When you train knowing that you’re healthy, you’ll be more confident in the fight.”
Some have speculated that complacency has crept in with Alvarez considering he’s already banked hundreds of millions of dollars and secured his legacy as a defining boxer of the era. But he’s taken steps to challenge himself this training camp, namely with the location.
Instead of fighting out of his longtime home of San Diego, he and his team decamped to a more secluded location in Lake Tahoe.
“There are times in a career where you have to change things up,” Alvarez’s longtime trainer Eddy Reynoso said. “The altitude has been great for us here.”
Alvarez admitted to getting winded quickly when he first started training in Lake Tahoe but has since become accustomed to it and says he can go 12 rounds without breathing heavily. He’s noticeably worn down as recent fights have stretched on, so improving his cardio could go a long way in showing he hasn’t fallen as far as some are suggesting.
The atmosphere always makes for a spectacle when Alvarez fights, but he wants to get back to making just as large of an impression inside the ring with his performance.
“I still feel young and fresh,” Alvarez said. “I never think about the end of my career. I just train and fight year after year. I still feel that I’m at my best.”
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
