Canelo Alvarez had his fighting spirit questioned following his title loss to Terence Crawford.
The Mexican superstar had only lost two fights in his legendary boxing career before Terence Crawford came along last weekend.
Crawford risked it all by moving up multiple weight classes to meet Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight and the gamble ultimately paid off, with Crawford taking home a unanimous decision victory in the biggest fight of his career.
Post-fight, Canelo has been criticized by former world champions left and right for his performance.
A former UFC rival of Canelo’s is the latest to weigh in, analyzing the boxer’s body language across 12 rounds of action.
Kamaru Usman suggests Canelo Alvarez wasn’t ‘locked in’ against Terence Crawford
Years after Conor McGregor boxed Floyd Mayweather in the ring, former UFC welterweight champion and pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman called for a fight with Canelo Alvarez (one he never got).
UFC champions going after boxing royalty is nothing new, as current pound-for-pound king Ilia Topuria is currently seeking a fight with Crawford himself.
Usman, a fighter who has watched Canelo for years, noticed a different side of the boxer in his last fight.
“One of the most important things to me that I saw in this is I’ve never seen Canelo in the position where he’s at now to where he’s starting to kind of complain a little bit,” Usman said on the Pound 4 Pound Podcast.
“Starting to kind of look away in the fight, starting to kind of lose focus in the fight. I’ve never seen that before,” Usman continued.
“He kind of seems like, oh, I’m losing the rounds. He turns his face, he turns his head. And on top of not only that, in between rounds, you see him wanting to shake hands, wanting to touch gloves and it was almost like he wasn’t locked in.
“Then, there was moments even leading before, after the weigh-ins, where he’s congratulating Terence, saying thank you for making the fight happen. Good luck tomorrow, whatever that he said.
“We never really see that from him because when you in the s—, you in the s—. Terence Crawford was in the s—. Terence Crawford ain’t wanting to take no hands. He was not about that.
“That was something that I saw from Canelo’s spirit,” Usman explained.
“I don’t know whether it’s because he’s at the age now where he’s starting to kind of really soak all this in and know that the end is coming near. That mean-spirited Canelo wasn’t there…”
Where does Canelo Alvarez go from here?
Prior to their super-fight, there was much talk about this being a final fight for not just Crawford, but Alvarez as well.
Alvarez achieved yet another massive payday at 35, and at this point, Canelo could keep on fighting or retire with his legacy already cemented.
Top contender Hamzah Sheeraz could be a potential opponent for Alvarez’s return.
However, Sheeraz is unsure when Alvarez will come back, citing February might be too soon.