Mexican superstar and for some The Face of Boxing, Canelo Alvarez is now aged 34 and he will turn 35 in July. This is, for some fighters, the age when they begin to think about walking away and retiring, especially if they have achieved as much as Canelo has achieved, and if they have amassed as much wealth as Canelo has. Canelo is without doubt a future Hall of Famer, and he is set for life from a financial perspective.
But Canelo, though he has told Ring Magazine’s podcast that he has given at least some thought towards when he may hang up the gloves, says he feels “great” and that he plans to box until he is 38 years of age. That gives the multi-weight champ and current 168 pound ruler around three-and-a-half years with which to continue boxing, and there could be some massive fights for Canelo before he’s done – some more massive fights.
We’ve heard the talk of a possible showdown between Canelo and fellow pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford, with the fight to maybe happen this September in Las Vegas, while Canelo also has a rematch with Dmitry Bivol as a possible option. Canelo told Ring that he is “getting closer” to retirement.
“I don’t know, yeah, I’m getting closer to [retirement] obviously,” Canelo said. “But I’m feeling great, I feel better than ever. But maybe at 38? Yeah I think 38 would be the perfect time to start thinking about that. I have had difficult fights, and ones I didn’t need in them moments. I take risks my whole career. I really love the challenges and what I do, and I try to show people how good I am. I love to go up and down in weight, I never look at my record and say ‘I did this.’ My trainer always says about it and he always shows me the things I’ve done, all the world champions [I’ve fought] and it’s very impressive.”
Canelo, 62-2-2(39) has indeed got some impressive resume, with him having faced a number of Hall of Famers and with him winning world titles in four different weight classes. As we often say with regards to a special fighter, we will miss Canelo when he’s gone.
How many more fights might Canelo have before he hangs ’em up, and will he ever lose another fight? More importantly perhaps, where among the greatest Mexican fighters of all-time will Canelo rank when he’s done fighting?
