Canelo Alvarez has cemented himself as an all-time great in the sport, but there was one occasion where before facing an opponent in the ring, had had to first face a much more dangerous foe.
In 2018, Canelo solidified himself as a force to be reckoned with after defeating Gennadiy Golovkin in the rematch after their controversial first encounter and becoming the WBA middleweight world champion.
It was in the build-up to Canelo’s first defense of the WBA title that he encountered issues with the infamous Mexican cartel.
Canelo produced thrilling KO after dealing with Mexican cartel
Just three months after winning against Golovkin, who was forced to dig deep against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Canelo was set to face Rocky Fielding. The Brit was 27-1 at the time, having lost only to Callum Smith, who produced a frightening knockout of Lenin Castillo.
The build-up to the fight was overshadowed for Canelo, though, when his brother was kidnapped by the Mexican cartel, who demanded a ransom for his release.
According to Marca.com, Alvarez said: “One Monday before the fight in 2018, on the phone I negotiated for three days for the bastards to release him. After negotiating I still thought: ‘What would it have been like if it had been my daughter, my mom or my dad?’ It would have been even harder and besides I had the fight on Saturday, a thousand interviews and nobody ever knew anything.”
He revealed that he did not go to the police as he feared corruption amongst the authorities might have meant they were involved in the plot, to begin with.
Canelo’s brother was released by the cartel after the Mexican’s successful negotiation. As though channelling his anger at the crime syndicate, Canelo stopped Fielding in the third round
Canelo’s future opponent could be undefeated Mexican KO machine – not David Benavidez
Though fans still want to see David Benavidez face Canelo, it seems in this closing chapter of his career the Benavidez fight may simply pose too much risk.
Alvarez is set to face William Scull on Cinco De Mayo weekend in a bid to become a two-time undisputed super-middleweight champion, with Scull currently holding the IBF title.
His next fight will be a mega-fight in Saudi Arabia with Terence Crawford, who is moving up in weight to challenge the Mexican star.
His deal with Turki Alalshikh, which came as Canelo seemed to be getting close to agreeing a Jake Paul fight, includes multiple fights, and the third of those could well be against Mexican contender, Diego Pacheco.
Pacheco is 23-0 with 18 KO’s to his name, and is in negotiations to face another frontrunner for Canelo’s crown, Christian Mbilli. Pacheco trains with Benavidez’ father, who recently revealed a new fight mansion, and a fight between the pair would reignite the Benavidez family’s feud with Alvarez.
An Mbilli vs Pacheco clash would surely decide who’s next for Canelo, though the winner of Chris Eubank Jr. vs Conor Benn is also in the mix to face him.