The story of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in boxing started when his brother gave him a pair of gloves at 10 years of age. From that moment, the little redhead born in Guadalajara on July 18th, 1990, knew that the sport of flat noses would be for him a love that he could not be separated from.
Although he was born in Tlajomulco de Zuniga, his family moved to Juanacatlan as a child. It was precisely in this town where “Canelo” took his first steps in boxing at 13 years of age, by the hand of Jose “Chepo” Reynoso and Eddy Reynoso, who were his initial coaches and remain with him until now.
To be one of the kings of the events of “Pay Per View” worldwide and challenger to the crown of Gennady Golovkin for the second time, the Mexican had to go a long way. His professional career began at just 16 years of age in his native Mexico, but since then he knew what he was capable of thanks to the good performances he had had in national youth championships before making the leap to the paid ranks.
Thanks to a successful radio program in Los Angeles, Oscar De La Hoya learned of Saul’s existence and was interested in signing to be his promoter, one of the best decisions the former boxer and now businessman has made.
Alvarez showed that he was made for great things from very early on; in 2008, he won his first belt, coincidentally one of the WBA, by beating Gabriel Martinez and remaining with the Fedecentro belt of the welterweight class. From that moment, “Canelo” began to collect several regional championships in various organizations and in 2013 he won the first World Title with the WBA, beating Austin Trout for the light middleweight belt.
The aggressive style and the courage of the Mexican turned him not only into a champion, but into a fighter that people want to see. That is the reason why he is one of the most popular fighters in the world. His only setback was against the legendary Floyd Mayweather Jr. who defeated him in 2013 to snatch the WBA belt of 154 pounds. But the great victories of Alvarez include Miguel Cotto, Erislandy Lara, Shane Mosley, Amir Khan, among other greats of the boxing world.
However, the fighters most important fight seems to be on the way. The rematch against Golovkin will be an opportunity to take revenge for the previous fight in which both tied and prove that can beat one of the strongest and most fearsome fighters in boxing. For Alvarez, winning the WBA Middleweight title in Las Vegas this September 15thGennady Golovkin: a life full of motivation
The streets and tragedies formed Gennady Golovkin. The Super World Middleweight Champion of the World Boxing Association (WBA), who will defend his crown on September 15th against Saul Alvarez, grew up in a conflicted environment in Kazakhstan since his birth in 1982.
His country still belonged to the Soviet Union and his childhood had several hard elements surrounding him. However, the physical energy of “GGG” and his mental dexterity were always well oriented. As a child, he was challenged to fight in the streets against other children and never refused any street fight. As he grew up, two of his brothers had to enlist for the war, in which they died. This left a great gap in Gennady, but all the situations he experienced were taken advantage of to improve sports and to enter boxing.
Since his adventures as a youth, in which he beat good rivals like Matt Korobov, Golovkin showed that his power was out of the ordinary. In 2004 he won a silver medal during the Olympic Games in Athens and it was enough to make the jump to professional pugilism.
Germany served as his starting point to take his first steps and begin a path toward a title. In 2010 he landed in Panama to win the title against Milton Nunez. Innumerable interviews with his rivals have made clear the unusual strength that the Kazakh puts into each of his punches. To date, he has a 87% knockout percentage, thanks to a combination of that strong punch with great resistance and a courage that he has claimed to have obtained from the Mexican style he practices thanks to his coach Abel Sanchez.
Currently has 20 defenses as champion at 160 pounds, the longest streak in history and a record he shares with Bernard Hopkins. If Golovkin manages to succeed in his fight against “Canelo”, he will get a unique mark for boxers of his weight class.
One of the strongest fighters in the world has a great challenge against the Mexican. He wants to keep his record undefeated and show off his power to the world once again. will be a new step towards greatness.
