Canelo Alvarez is approaching historic achievement, looking for even more gold and bigger challenges

The refusal of four-division champion Canelo Alvarez has made it difficult to rest on the laurels of success as a king of simultaneous pound boxing and face the limits that could lead to the biggest draws in the world.

Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) has come a long way in his hometown in Mexico when he began his teens in his 16-year pro career, and at the age of 23 he became a viable pay-per-view star. But as Alvarez, now 31, is once again preparing for history to be crowned the first undisputed champion in super-weight history on Saturday, it’s worth taking a moment to realize how remarkable Alvarez’s evolution has been.

The 168-pound WBA, WBO and WBC champion welcomes Caleb Plant to the IBF graduate (21-0, 12 KOs) in this one. weekend inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Alvarez’s bet on being a monster favorite isn’t as surprising as this fight can represent in the overall career of the fighter: the unification of an entire division in less than a year and the final stop before the attempt. To do the same at 175 pounds.

“Getting to the deaf is harder than staying there,” Alvarez said in recent weeks. “That’s why I try to improve every day. That’s what I’ve tried to do since my first fight so far.”

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Alvarez Floyd Mayweather, who suffered his lone pro defeat in 2013, was left with a wide-ranging decision in a 152-pound superb fight in which he was an intelligent and heavy-handed boxer who perceived weaknesses in shoe speed. However what he will face on Saturday for Planti is only a 168-pound destroyer, capable of overtaking his opponent with power, able to finish with an opposing shot or overcoming it based on his technique.

Alvarez’s current major success makes it easy to forget the period from 2014 to 2016 when the Mexican icon chose to fight with his favorite 155-pound weight, often referred to by the boxing media as “Canelo’s weight,” with his critics. Alvarez wonders if it was enough to deal with middleweights like Gennadiy Golovkin.

So exactly how did we get here? Just two years ago in the world, did Alvarez dare to be great at lifting heavy weights, where he played like the biggest blows at the time he beat runner-up Sergey Kovalev? The reality that Alvarez has clearly shared the desire to push back to 175 pounds, to face smaller champion Artur Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs) instead of facing smaller, more marketable opponents in exchange for a lot of money?

“We continue to work like we did when we started,” Alvarez said. “We have the same vision of being historic and that’s what we’re here for.”

Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao, the eight-division champion’s trainer in the Hall, when asked what was the secret to Pacquiao’s endurance and enduring excellence this year after his tremendous weight gain in his early 40s, Roach used words like passion, work ethic and hunger.

The same spirit can be found in Alvarez, whose recent rise has not been the same as Pacquiao’s debut at 106 pounds and winning world junior middleweight titles, but it’s worth comparing to the legendary “PacMan” for his carrying ability. regardless of the division that is competing with it with such speed and deep power.

“Sometimes you get caught thinking about the road to Canelo,” coach Eddy Reynoso said. “We’ve been working together for almost 17 years. The most important thing is that he doesn’t lose his appetite to continue to grow, to continue to win, to continue to be successful in boxing.”

If his trademark “No Boxing, No Life” slogan was not a sufficient indicator, Alvarez has maintained the passion and vision of a challenger who rises in rank despite having already conquered the highest peaks in the sport. This passion has allowed him to constantly work in his profession and improve his shortcomings.

Although the impact of his slower footwork perceived in middleweight has been less, the more weight he has gained, it is clear that Alvarez has grown into almost every category, focusing on explosion, footwork, defense and body, probably the deadliest hooker in the sport. below. Along the way, Alvarez has become even more intelligent. He was always patient and ready, but now it is equally deadly opponent ends with a perfect blow at the right time.

“I’m a complete fighter. I can do a lot of things in the ring,” Alvarez said. “I can be aggressive, I can hit the opponent, I can move. After all, I know I have to be a full-fledged fighter. That’s what I’ve learned to be dependent on Eddy Reynoso.

“The secret of my relationship with Eddy is our discipline. My mind is very strong and I will use that to my advantage in this fight. I am a person who likes challenges. I always want to keep learning, learning, learning.” learning. ”

Alvarez showed perfectly well in the reunion fight against Callum Smith last December, when the England native chose to spend most of his time tied behind a rope behind his high guard. Alvarez made adjustments to focus on Smith’s left arm, which put his jaw and defense in jeopardy by immediately creating a torn biceps that required surgery.

In fact, Alvarez has spent most of his career actively pursuing difficult challenges against different styles. He went against the advice of his former promoter Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara for the difficult middleweight boxers aimed at middleweight, and had no problem riding much bigger men years later, at 160 and 168 pounds, against the most violent fists in Golovkin and Kovalev sports. .

Because he has seen it all and conquered almost everything he has faced, Alvarez has no doubt that he will be able to handle everything that Plant brings to the ring.

“I know what I have to do and I know a lot about him,” Alvarez said. “He’s a good fighter, but I know my skills. I’ve faced similar styles to Caleb’s Floyd Mayweather, Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout and [Billy Joe] Saunders. My experience will give me an advantage in the fight. ”