Canelo Alvarez almost suffered a humiliating defeat to a fighter with more losses than wins.
Throughout his career, the Mexican has proven he has what it takes to overcome adversity. Most notably, Canelo rendered Amir Khan unconscious after being outboxed by the Brit.
However, he hasn’t always found the knockout blow.
On June 17, 2006, inside the Auditorio Municipal in Tijuana, Mexico, the warrior suffered the first blemish of his professional career.
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Canelo Alvarez drew against Jorge Juarez
Canelo Alvarez was only 15 years old when he went head-to-head with Jorge Juarez in a gruelling battle.
And the man he failed to beat can remember that bout like it was yesterday.
In an interview with ESPN, he claimed: “They brought me in to read him, to test him. But it ended up that we were almost alone in the arena. There were no people left because Hector Velazquez’s feature fight had finished, so it was practically just the judges, the referee and us.”
The pair had an enthralling clash, with Canelo landing heavy blows early, before Juarez’s experience began to show down the stretch.
At the end of four rounds, the fight was ruled a draw, although the ex-boxer believes he ought to have gotten his hand raised.
The athlete, who finished his career with a record of 8-30-3, claimed: “That kid — because he was still a kid — he threw his right hand at me with all his force. He was a one-hit fighter, and the truth is, he was strong.
“But he got tired in the second round, and I started to get my hands in there, and at the end they had to make a decision.
“At the time, I felt that I had won, but they called it a draw [37-39, 39-37, and 38-38]; they favored his youth and desire.”
Juarez added: “The fight was hard-fought, he was a bit of a novice, but we got it on good. I had already had a lot of fights with tough rivals. I was like 27 years old and he was like, 16.
“At the time, that fight didn’t mean anything to me because I never thought he would thrive the way he is doing now. I never thought that people would end up admiring him the way they do now, which is why now this is a story.”
Floyd Mayweather reveals the major issue he had before his fight with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez
After suffering a draw in his fifth contest, Canelo would go on a 37-fight winning streak, which ended when he ran into Floyd Mayweather.
On September 14, 2013, the pair of boxing superstars traded punches inside the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
That night, the American was nothing short of flawless, making his rival miss with ease, en route to winning via decision.
To make his victory even more impressive, Mayweather faced massive adversity before fighting Canelo.