Canelo Alvarez insists he hasn’t forgotten about previous comments from Jermell Charlo and has warned the American that he will see his skillset first hand on September 30.
Canelo puts his undisputed super middleweight crown on the line against reigning undisputed super welterweight champion, Charlo, who is moving up two weight classes to challenge the Mexican great in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME pay-per-view.
The pair shared two cordial press conferences in New York and Los Angeles to promote their showdown, although the 33-year-old claims both Jermell and twin brother Jermall Charlo were never believers in his ability and says this has given him renewed motivation.
“I think Jermell Charlo is the perfect fight right now,” Canelo said during a workout in California on Wednesday.
“He’s undisputed in his weight class. I’m undisputed and he’s been calling me out for a long time and I’ve heard him talking a lot of things and I never forget.
“He said ‘Canelo is going down, Canelo can’t do this, can’t do that.
“He never believed in my skills, but guess what, he’s going to fight out soon.
“I’m very excited for this fight, because he and his brother never believed in my skills and that’s one of the things that motivate me for this fight.”
Alvarez returned to Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions on a three-fight deal after four years away, ending a run of three consecutive bouts with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, the last a unanimous decision win over John Ryder in a homecoming bout in his native Guadalajara.
It is unclear at this stage who lies in wait for Alvarez if he overcomes Charlo two weeks on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena, although an unlikely meeting with undisputed welterweight champion, Terence Crawford appears to be gathering pace.
Crawford was widely hailed as the number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet following his ninth round demolition of Errol Spence Jr in July, with many suggesting he has succeeded Alvarez’s status, which he held unquestionably during his rise to super middleweight immortality.
Defeat to Dmitry Bivol in a bid to become WBA light heavyweight champion and a perceived decline in victories over Gennady Golovkin and the aforementioned Ryder has put his position into question, however he believes he is still the best fighter in boxing.
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“I always believe I’m the number one, my whole career,” he added.
“Because you need to believe in yourself and I believe I’m the number one.
“But like I’ve said before, I think it’s disrespectful to other fighters to have just one number one, because there’s a couple of guys there that deserve to be in the top too.”
