Canelo Alvarez boasts a record of 62-2-2 and has only lost to big names such as Floyd Mayweather. His draws, however, come against one of the greatest middleweights ever, and an unknown journeyman.
Canelo‘s most recent fight saw the Mexican defeat Edgar Berlanga by unanimous decision to improve his record to 62-2-2.
His record has not been blemished since his loss at light-heavyweight to Dmitry Bivol in 2022, the first loss of his career since 2013 when he lost to Floyd Mayweather.
Canelo famously fought to a draw with Gennadiy Golovkin, one of the greatest amateur boxers ever and a fierce middleweight champion.
What many don’t know, however, is who is responsible for Canelo’s other draw.
Canelo drew against journeyman with a losing record
In 2006, just one year into his pro career and many years before his impressive world title accolades, Canelo hit his first roadblock in Tijuana, Mexico, when he faced the first opponent of his career with any wins on their record.
He faced Jorge Juarez, a 3-6 professional, in a four-round contest. Before that, Alvarez’s four opponents had a combined record of 0-2-1.
It was Juarez, though, who permanently made his mark on Canelo’s record in the fifth fight of his career, as the pair fought to a split decision draw.
Juarez has since gone on to obtain a record of 8-30-3, losing by first-round knockout to Jaime Munguia, who Bruno Surace stopped in a huge upset, in 2017.
Canelo didn’t let the draw dissuade him, and won his next 38 fights before Mayweather presented the next roadblock of his career. Mayweather revealed he had difficulty maintaining weight ahead of the Canelo fight.
Canelo kicked unwelcome Jake Paul fans out the ring after brutal KO victory
In 2021, Canelo, who shared a heartfelt moment with Caleb Plant after their fight, defeated 21-2 Avni Yildrim in a defense of his WBC super middleweight title.
Canelo dropped Yildrim in round three before stopping him the same round. In his post-fight interview, the pound-for-pound talent noticed two Jake Paul fans had entered the ring, and the Mexican did not mince his words:
“Get the f— out of here. F——.”
This came as Paul, whose undercard saw Lucas Bahdi knockout Ashton Sylve in a KO of the year contender, has consistently called for a fight with Canelo, which seemed close to being signed until Turki Alalshikh swept in and gave Canelo, who negotiated with a Mexican cartel once, a multi-fight deal.
He will now face William Scull in May, and Terence Crawford later in the year.