September 15, 2022; Las Vegas, Nevada, United States; Saul “Canelo” Alvarez reacts during the final press conference for the Matchroom Boxing card on September 17, 2022 in Las Vegas, NV. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.
LAS VEGAS — Beyond the glittering line of world title belts, Canelo Alvarez shone Thursday afternoon in the AK Theater at the MGM Grand Casino during the final press conference for the third fight between him and Gennadiy Golovkin.
Alvarez’s eyes radiated a searing anger that he has done very well to maintain so far, before the two face off Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena on DAZN.
Álvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) is the first boxer in boxing history to become the undisputed super middleweight world champion. This will be the first foray into 168 pounds as a pro for the 40-year-old Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs), despite the fact that he had an extensive amateur past at 165.5 pounds.
On Saturday night, it seems that nothing will stand in the way of Alvarez, who has been quite emphatic that he wants to knock his rival out. Alvarez has not let slip all that “GGG” accused him of after his last fight in 2018. Canelo’s motivation was compounded by May’s shock unanimous decision loss to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry. bivol.
“He likes to talk about a lot of things and now I’m here in front of him,” Alvarez told The Ring. “Is personal. It’s more motivation to do my job. I’ll give you credit. (GGG) is one of the best I faced. I wanted to make this fight for the fans and like I said, he is one of the best fighters I have ever faced.
“But I think I’m the best boxer in the world, because nobody does what I do in boxing. No one takes the risks I take, and these are risks I don’t need to take. It’s no secret. I just want to punish him. I want to punish him very hard. That is my focus.
“He pretends to be a good person, and he is not. She talked a lot of shit about me. That’s why I don’t like it. He is a good fighter. He is a great fighter. That’s for sure, but as a person, I don’t think so.”
Four years have passed since their rematch, won by Álvarez by majority decision, although questioned by some. What stirs him up even more is the performance against Bivol. Alvarez is better than that, and he knows it.
He’s been gnawing at it for months.
“Yes, of course, nobody likes to lose,” he said. “No one wants to lose. I feel a lot of pain because I love what I do and I don’t want to lose, right? But it is what it is. You need to keep (moving) forward and keep fighting. This is life.
“I am going to tell what he has done, I am more hungry. I feel more dangerous now. My training hasn’t changed. I still train 100 percent.
“But now I would say that I am more mature. I have a lot of confidence to do it, so that’s what’s different now. I’m just going to fight my fight. I’m going to fight the way I know how. I just have to concentrate on what I’m doing.
“I like it (when opponents talk trash), because I train harder and go into the fight feeling more dangerous. My goal is to finish the fight before 12 rounds.”
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. You can follow him on twitter @JSantoliquito [twitter.com].
