Canelo Alvarez took a huge risk in his career when he moved up two weight classes to take on one of the most feared champions in the sport.
On September 13, Canelo Alvarez returns to the boxing ring for one of the biggest fights in recent memory when he takes on Terence Crawford in an undisputed super middleweight title fight.
One of the biggest talking points ahead of the fight is that it is the inaugural event promoted by Dana White‘s TKO Boxing, as he looks to make his mark in the sport with a huge event.
Years before White signed his involvement in the sport, he talked about how he would promote ‘stud’ Crawford, and now he has the chance to do exactly what he said he would.
Crawford has a tough task on his hands, though, as the Mexican champion is widely regarded as the current pound-for-pound best fighter in the world and he will be hoping to put on another career best performance.
Canelo jumped up two weight classes to take on feared champion for huge $35 million payday
Although Crawford is also regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and still dons an impressive undefeated record, he hasn’t faced the type of talent that Canelo has.
After years of dominating the middleweight division, in 2019 Alvarez boldly decided to move up to light heavyweight to take on one of the most feared champions in Sergey Kovalev.
Following Canelo’s impressive win over Daniel Jacobs, conversations began for a light heavyweight title fight against Kovalev, which would see Canelo move up two weight classes.
Kovalev first had to get through the tough test of Anthony Yarde, which he did by knocking him out in the 11th round of their clash.
Not long after, it was officially announced that Canelo vs Kovalev would take place from the MGM Grand Garden Arena and with a win, Canelo would become just the second Mexican fighter to win the light heavyweight title.
Despite the fight being relatively competitive through the first 10 rounds, Canelo showcased why he is one of the greatest ever when he knocked the Russian out in round 11.
With his win, he joined the likes of Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Mike McCallum as the only former light middleweight champions in history to win a title at light heavyweight.
Dana White criticized the event for going head-to-head with huge UFC card
Although Canelo and White are now working in tandem ahead of the biggest boxing event in a while, it is fair to say their relationship hasn’t always been great.
Ahead of Canelo’s fight against Kovalev, the UFC boss criticized the event as it was set to clash with UFC 244, which was the inaugural BMF title fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz.
Canelo’s fight was subsequently delayed for over an hour as they waited for the culmination of UFC 244 before they started their walkouts.