CANELO ALVAREZ is no longer the fresh faced rising star of even just a few years past. Sharply dressed in a suit, his red hair shaved close, he appeared at Madison Square Garden more as a grizzled veteran, accustomed to the trappings of stardom certainly but still a fighter through and through. Cut over the left eye in his September fight with Gennady Golovkin, he was sporting a fresher mark beneath his right eye at Thursdayโs final press conference ahead of his clash with Liverpoolโs Rocky Fielding.
Alvarez dismissed it as โjust a little scratch,โ but despite only being 28 years old he is carrying the scars of long, hard 53 fight career.
He has to be careful. This is his first fight at 168lbs and his first in New York. In December he hasnโt chanced taking in the sights. โItโs been too cold, I canโt risk something happening. But after the fight maybe weโll have the opportunity but right now weโre focused on this fight,โ he said.
The risk is that, even though he is widely expected to beat Fielding, Alvarez is taking this contest too soon after his bruising battle with Golovkin in September in the weight class below. Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez echoed that concern. โItโs a bit of a risk, this is a risky fight. Rocky really has everything to win, nothing to lose. Heโs the underdog, nobodyโs expecting him to win. Nobody knows him. Those are the most dangerous fights and Canelo was in a hurry to get back in the ring, after such a tough fight with Golovkin. That was a tough and brutal fight. But he wanted to get two fights in this year. Heโs always wanted to fight here at the Garden and itโs a dream come true for Canelo as well,โ Gomez told Boxing News.
Although Alvarez didnโt train in Wednesdayโs public workout, Gomez insists thatโs no cause for concern. โHeโs getting ready for the fight, mentally heโs strong, heโs been working hard, heโs already on weight. Heโs got his strategy, heโs got his plan already, his workout plan. They know what to do,โ he said.
Alvarez will however enjoy headlining at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. โThe truth is itโs a dream that weโve always been looking for, to be at these kind of arenas, so I feel proud. Itโs because of this we train so hard. We did everything that we did to get here. So Iโm happy and it fills me with pride but Iโm also grateful to God and the people who have always supported me,โ Alvarez says.
โItโs the second phase of my career, the first phase has ended. Itโs come to the second, Iโm going to keep making history. There may be other things in my future which I have yet to discover but Iโm going to keep going.
โI feel happy itโs a motivation for me to be able to see all this. Itโs a motivation for me to keep going forward and itโs just dreams coming to reality.
“All these fighters want to fight me. Iโm seeing that, that they all want to fight me. Weโre going to make the best fights for the people. Weโre going to see in 2019. Now weโre focused on the fight we have before us on Saturday.โ