‘I’m Risking Everything To Make History’: Canelo Alvarez On His Legacy After Bivol Loss

Canelo Alvarez has been at the helm of many pound-for-pound rankings for a long time, but after his surprising loss to Dmitry Bivol, the Mexican boxer was dropped from many lists.

The world was shocked to see Alvarez lose for only the second time in his career and his first loss in almost 9 years; Álvarez has competed in three weight classes, collecting titles between 160 and 175 pounds and fighting contenders like Gennady Golovkin, Caleb Plant, and Billy Joe Saunders.

The Ring Magazine has dropped Alvarez down to sixth place on their list, while Oleksandr Usyk took his number one spot. ESPN has also dropped Alvarez down to fourth place, with Terrance Crawford taking the number one spot.

Canelo Alvarez reacts to Pound-For-Pound Rankings

Canelo Alvarez spoke with DAZN after the announcement of the trilogy fight with Gennady Golovkin.

He had this to say about his drop in the rankings, “Tell me another fighter who is going up and down in weight, wanting to achieve different things. I risk everything to keep making history when I don’t need to. So personally, I still feel I’m the best in the world.”

Alvarez feels that he should still be at the top in the pound-for-pound rankings because he’s taking risks by moving in weight from division to division and fighting bigger guys.

Criticism against Alvarez

Canelo Alvarez has also received his fair share of criticism from fans and pundits. Many of his critics feel that he needs to improve his fundamentals and cardio.

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He has also been criticized for ducking good opponents as he is yet to fight any of the talented 168-pounders like David Morrell Jr and David Benavidez who might also give him a hard time like Bivol

Future of Canelo Alvarez’s Legacy

While losing to Dmitry Bivol does not make an enormous impact on Canelo Alvarez’s growing legacy, a loss is still a loss. Losing to Bivol was one of the biggest upsets for Alvarez’s ego but still, there are very few fighters in the world who are willing to take on these challenges and we should admire his attempt to do what others haven’t done.

Challenges motivate him to continue fighting. Even if he doesn’t overcome them, Alvarez is still trying to be the best to ever do it, and we cannot argue the fact that he has proven to be one of the best boxers of this generation.

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The Mexican has now set his sights on beating Golovkin for the second time and also a rematch with Bivol after that, and will look to reclaim his number one spot in the pound-for-pound rankings.