Alvarez hasn’t built crossover following
Oscar De La Hoya LAS VEGAS would change just one thing about Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. He’d have him speak English.
More specifically, De La Hoya would have Alvarez, boxing ’s biggest pay-per-view attraction assuming Floyd Mayweather Jr. stays retired, speak English in public.
Alvarez, who will take on Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in a middleweight blockbuster Saturday, is a major star within the sport, but De La Hoya feels he has been held back in terms of growing a crossover following because of linguistic factors.
The 27-year-old grew up in Guadalajara and lives in San Diego, but while he is comfortable conversing in English among friends and away from the spotlight, he refuses to do so on camera or in interviews.
“I don’t know how many Rosetta Stone (CDs) we have bought for him already, but it’s quite a few,” De La Hoya told USA TODAY Sports. “He would connect with America. If that fan hears you speak English and make the effort, (they feel that) you’re in America and you’re trying to somewhat be American and you respect this country. It goes a long way.”
The summer of 2017 has shown what gets boxing ’s money wheels spinning the fastest. Alvarez and Golovkin are genuine stars in their prime and have treated each other with respect. Both fighters will make millions in return for their efforts Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, yet each stands to pocket just a fraction of that earned by Mayweather and Conor McGregor for their August showdown.
To generate the more than $100 million each of those protagonists tapped into means reaching a viewership that would not normally watch combat sports but can appreciate the hype and hoopla.
Having Alvarez speak in English would not automatically make him must-see viewing, and there are plenty of fans who would be loathe to see the fighter turn off his gentlemanly persona to adopt the kind of brash and often boorish antics of Mayweather or McGregor.
Yet De La Hoya, who himself was beloved in the MexicanAmerican community throughout his career but also reached all sections of society, feels that English mastery would greatly enhance his boxer’s earning potential.
“Canelo is a fighter,” De La Hoya added. “He loves what he does. He is always training. He loves to study the art of boxing. That’s what makes him exciting and personable and likable. It is just a matter of waiting for that day for him to speak English.
“When you go out there and speak to Corporate America, you can go on TV shows and speak English, it adds an extra value to you and who you are. It’s important.”
In 2013, before he fought Mayweather, Alvarez gave a hint his English skills were improving. Quizzed following the weigh-in by Jim Gray, he was asked, at the end of an interview that used an interpreter, if he “was ready” for the battle that lay ahead.
Immediately, without waiting for translation, Alvarez interjected, in English. “I was born ready,” he said.
Since then though, his stance has not shifted. When he is interviewed he listens to the question in English, then responds in Spanish and has his words translated.
He speaks frankly and wholeheartedly, although, like Golovkin, he took the curious decision to close his training camp to the media for the final month, making it harder than ever to generate focus amid the weight of the Mayweather-McGregor promotion.
And he brushes off questions about whether he will adopt the new approach De La Hoya so clearly craves.
Alvarez has been tipped for stardom since he was a teenager. However, he admits that some of the trappings of fame have taken him by surprise.
“I just wanted to train to fight, and I didn’t expect all these things,” Alvarez said.