Ahead of his first fight in nearly eight months, Canelo Alvarez doesn’t want you to forget about him.
Speaking with FightHype.com this week before his bout against John Ryder on Saturday, the four-division world champion Alvarez fired back at a recent claim by Gervonta Davis. The undefeated Davis knocked out Ryan Garcia in vicious fashion last month (video here) to improve to 29-0 on his pro career. After the fight, Davis said that he was the face of boxing right now.
“I’m definitely the face of boxing,” said Davis. “Abso-f—ing-lutely.”
Here is the clip (at the 2:45 mark) but beware of the language.
"The job doesn't stop till I retire."
More work to do for the new 👑 @Gervontaa | #DavisGarcia pic.twitter.com/FL8tNZllzi
— All the Smoke Boxing (@atsboxing) April 23, 2023
Alvarez definitely had something to say about that big-ego boast though.
“I’m not retired yet,” Alvarez stated in response to Davis’ claim. “They can say whatever they want. But it’s not that easy. One fight don’t put [you] in that position. You need to do a lot of things.
“I like Gervonta Davis a lot, but he needs to do more things to be the face of boxing,” Alvarez added. “Not just one fight, one fight with Ryan Garcia. I respect Ryan Garcia, but what [does Davis] bring to be the face of boxing?”
Alvarez, who will be turning 33 later this year, is right. He himself is still the biggest draw in boxing right now, and the numbers reflect that. Alvarez had a classic trilogy with Gennady Golovkin (winning two fights and earning a draw in the third), got in the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr, and defeated everyone from Sergey Kovalev to Miguel Cotto (and in title bouts no less).
Other than Garcia (and maybe Leo Santa Cruz), the opposition that Davis has faced off with so far in his career has not been quite A-list quality. Davis certainly has a knack for making headlines. But when it comes to being the face of boxing, Alvarez and perhaps a Tyson Fury or a Terence Crawford (both undefeated champions like Davis) probably have better claims.
