Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
“Canelo” Alvarez has captured this boxing city’s heart
Mexico’s ‘Canelo’ yearns to be face of boxing
SAN DIEGO
SAUL “Canelo” Alvarez pulled up to his off-the-grid gym in a black Escalade and immediately jumped into a chair next to renowned sports broadcaster Jessi Losada for a live interview on Fox Deportes.
Losada fired away questions regarding Alvarez’s showdown with bitter rival Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. next month at T-Mobile Arena, and even brought up that other possible opponent who is known for his initials. The red-haired Mexican boxing superstar never flinched, answering each question with a smooth tone and eloquent response.
After the 10-minute interview, Alvarez was asked to do a promo video for the station. He accepted and was told his lines. Alvarez butchered his first take as he shook his head and tongue. The cameras rolled again, and the boxer nailed the second take like a natural.
Before starting his workout, Alvarez still had one more interview with two reporters from Las Vegas who made the trek to America’s Finest City. The one-hour flight to San Diego was quicker than the two Lyft rides to Alvarez’s top-secret gym, which can’t be found on a GPS.
Once inside the confidential locaVirginia
tion, Alvarez and his trainers didn’t act like Area 51 security guards. Alvarez took his time talking to the reporters and allowed them to stay for the entire training session with free access to shoot pictures and videos.
This rare entry to a boxer’s training camp three weeks before a megafight wasn’t a one-time thing, or the typical media day at which reporters battle for elbow room during a scrum interview. Alvarez allows media into his gym three times a week.
The 26-year-old doesn’t want to be just another famous boxer, he wants to be the face of the sport, and understands how important it is to build a brand and be accessible to the media.
No current boxer comes close to matching Alvarez’s star power. The freckle-faced fighter who prefers to speak Spanish and is simply known as Canelo has become boxing’s newest main attraction on the Strip.
The next big thing
Alvarez has picked up where Floyd Mayweather Jr. left off when the undefeated superstar retired a year and a half ago.
The Canelo — cinnamon in Spanish — craze is just as big when his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, ruled Las Vegas from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s.
Alvarez is now in elite company as one of Las Vegas’ top entertainers starting with Muhammad Ali, whose flamboyant personality took the spotlight away from the rugged Sonny Liston in the 1960s. The Greatest of All Time fought in Las Vegas seven times from 1961 to 1980 and helped the city become the boxing capital of the world.
Everyone who was anybody flocked to Las Vegas whenever two of the Four Kings battled at the outdoor venue at Caesars Palace in the 1980s. But the city always had a special place in its heart for the flashy Sugar Ray Leonard over Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, it was “Iron” Mike Tyson’s era. He was Las Vegas’ shining monster.
Now, Las Vegas’ “Greatest of All Time” could include its first non-American: Ali. Sugar Ray. Iron Mike. Golden Boy. Money. Canelo.
“I feel happy about being in that type of company,” Alvarez said in Spanish. “That motivates me a ton. I’m working to get there to be a legend in boxing, and I’m currently on that journey. I’ve done many things already. I’ve made plenty of history in boxing before the age of 26.
“I don’t plan on stopping, and just keep moving forward. I’ll keep doing that to make it a grand story.”
For the next three hours, Alvarez and his trainer, Eddy Reynoso, ignored the cameras hovering a few feet from their faces for an intense offensive workout inside the ring with a slick black canvas that was surrounded by Ali pictures on the wall and a giant Mexico flag. Alvarez pounded at Reynoso’s protected ribs with booming combinations that ended with overhand flushes on his trainer’s mitts.
The hard-hitting Alvarez at times would pause to pick Reynoso’s brain when something wasn’t adding up. The two met in the center of the ring where Alvarez’s initials were engraved in red — like a student meeting a professor for an after-hours study session before a big exam.
“Shake my hand,” Jose “Chepo” Reynoso, Eddy’s father and Alvarez’s manager, told a reporter. “We have each other’s trust now. As long as you don’t interfere with our training time, you have free access to this gym. We get that you have a job to do.”
Team Canelo gets it.
Battle of Mexican stars
Alvarez headlined the first boxing event at T-Mobile Arena last Cinco De Mayo weekend, and gave the historic night a memorable ending with a vicious sixth-round knockout of Amir Khan before an announced crowd of 16,000.
He followed that up by drawing a crowd of more than 50,000 to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for his knockout victory over Liam Smith in September.
Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 knockouts) returns to T-Mobile Arena on May 6 for his 164.5 catchweight battle against fellow countryman Chavez (50-2-1, 32 KOs). A Golden Boy Promotions official said a crowd of 21,000 is expected for the sold-out event, which would be the largest attendance for the year-old arena. Three Strip hotels will host closed circuit viewings for the fight, and the cheapest ticket on StubHub is $390.
“Wherever I go, it doesn’t matter what city, my fans have always supported me,” Alvarez said. “For me, it’s a joy to be in a new arena (T-Mobile Arena) that I christened. I’m going to feel like I’m at home, and I hope to fight there for many years.”
It’s safe to say the Alvarez-Chavez showdown is the biggest fight in Las Vegas since Mayweather fought Manny Pacquiao two years ago, and some are calling it the most popular fight ever between two Mexicans.
A lot of the attention on this fight is because of Alvarez, but his star power will be tested come fight night. Chavez has done essentially nothing in the past four years, but he still brings the family name, and his father’s fans are arguably the most loyal in the sport.
Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., who had a perfect record through his first 87 fights, is an icon in Mexico. El Gran Campeon is without a doubt the biggest star in a long line of Mexican greats.
The younger Chavez was also on the cusp of stardom as a former middleweight champion nearly five years ago.
Chavez, 31, has since become an afterthought because of weight issues, marijuana use and lack of dedication to the sport. But Chavez vows to be in the best shape of his career for Alvarez.
“He’ll have his fans, and I got mine,” Alvarez said. “It’s interesting because there are fan bases in this fight, and may the best man win, and let the people enjoy it and pick sides.
“This is something big. Boxing needed this fight. What a great fight for the Mexican people.”
Different paths
There was a time when Chavez Jr. was viewed as Mexico’s next top superstar.
That became evident when Alvarez and Chavez fought on the same night in two Las Vegas venues in September 2012.
Alvarez defended his junior middleweight belt against unknown Josesito Lopez at the MGM Grand Garden. Less than a mile away at the Thomas & Mack Center, Chavez had his middleweight title defense versus Sergio Martinez.
Chavez had the bigger attendance (16,939) and gate figures ($3,052,475) than Alvarez (12,860, $1,618,150). But Chavez lost his belt that night and hasn’t been the same, while Alvarez went on to become the face of Mexican boxing and eventually the sport.
Alvarez, who turned professional at age 15, has accomplished many feats in the past decade and is still three months from his 27th birthday.
He went from fighting in front of 300 fans in small venues in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and Tepic, Nayarit, to clashing with Mayweather at the MGM Grand Garden four years ago.
Alvarez gave up his adolescence to make a name for himself. Chavez was born into fame.
“I left a part of my childhood to dedicate myself to boxing and be somebody,” Alvarez said. “It’s a sacrifice that I took. I thank God I didn’t make the wrong decision, and it was worth the trouble.
“There was a time where I fought 13 times in one year. I was forming a path for myself and couldn’t afford to take time off.”
Alvarez said his rivalry with Chavez goes back 10 years when they had a chance to fight in Guadalajara. Alvarez claims the Chavez family stopped the negotiations.
A decade later, the two Mexican stars will finally meet for a bout being dubbed “Mexico’s Civil War.”
“It’s funny how life has these wild turns,” Alvarez said. “Sometimes it’s just a circle.”