Mexican star Canelo Alvarez verbally flexed his star-power muscles when appearing on Million Dollaz Worth of Game, with the Mexican warrior saying, “It’s different” when his fights go up against a rival event. As fans may be aware, on September 14th in Las Vegas, the night Canelo fights Edgar Berlanga (in a fight that, to be truthful, not too many fans asked for or are overly excited about), a big UFC event will take place at the new Sphere venue, just a few blocks away from the T-Mobile where the boxing will be held.
People such as Oscar De La Hoya have basically told Canelo “good luck” going against UFC 306. But Canelo insists he is not concerned, that his star power will ensure a big turnout at the T-Mobile, and that he “can do what I want.” In addition, Canelo says he is different from previous star boxers who all “did what they were told” at some point during their careers.
“It’s just different,” Canelo said when asked about his fight going head to head with UFC. “Maybe other boxing matches, maybe, but Canelo is different. There are other kinds of fights, but Canelo is just different. I don’t care if the UFC is there; when Canelo fights, it’s different. Look, at some point, all the fighters did [what they were told]. Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Julio Cesar Chavez, Mike Tyson, everybody did this. There are stars and superstars who made the championship, but not the championship made them. So it’s way different. I come, and I do my career, and I fight [Miguel] Cotto with a clause, and I fight with Mayweather with a clause, and I fight everybody to build the Canelo I am now. Right now, I can do whatever I want.”
Sheer arrogance, or is Canelo merely being truthful in pointing out what he has made of himself, what he is now worth? Fighters risk their lives in the ring; therefore, all power is to them, and they shouldn’t be ashamed of their star power. That said, some fans will feel that Canelo’s words here are arrogant and that his massive success has gone to his head. “I can do whatever I want” can’t really be taken any other way, can it?
Canelo did go on to explain how he believes he has earned the right to feel the way he feels today, that he paid his dues by fighting the fights he was ordered to take by the governing bodies and by fighting the opponents the fans called for him to fight – Gennady Golovkin, Erislandy Lara, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant, Austin Trout, Mayweather, Cotto, Dmitry Bivol. And this is why Canelo says, “I did everything, and now I can ask whatever I want, and I can do whatever I want.”
Do you agree with Canelo here or not?
As to fight night and which event sells more tickets and pulls in the most pay-per-view buys, well, a betting man would see the Canelo-Berlanga fight as the definite underdog here. But as Canelo says himself, he doesn’t care.
