With his red hair and freckles, baby-faced Canelo Alvarez may not appear to be your typical Mexican warrior. However, one look at him in the ring makes it clear that this hard-hitting three- division world champion is following firmly in the footsteps of Mexican greats such as Ruben “Puas” Olivares, Salvador “Sal” Sanchez, Julio Cesar “J.C.” Chavez, Marco Antonio “Baby Faced Assassin” Barrera and Erik “El Terrible” Morales. This makes him not only one of the most popular young fighters in his home country, but one in demand around the entire Hispanic fight community.
In January of 2010, Canelo signed a promotional contract with Golden Boy Promotions, kicking off a relationship that helped lead him to a world title.
He defended his NABF title with a third-round knockout of Brian Camechis in March of 2010, halted highly-ranked contender Jose Miguel Cotto in nine rounds in May of that year and stopped 26-1 Luciano Cuello in six rounds for the vacant WBC silver junior middleweight title on July 10.
On September 18, 2010, Canelo returned to the ring at Los Angeles’ STAPLES Center and became only the second man to ever knock out former welterweight champion Carlos Baldomiras he finished him in the sixth round. Canelo finished off his breakout year on December 4 with a 12-round unanimous decision win over Lovemore N’dou.
On March 5, Canelo had his first bout of 2011. He was in top-notch form as he accomplished his dream of becoming a world champion by winning the vacant WBC junior middleweight title with a near shutout victory against British contender Matthew Hatton.
Canelo defended his crown for the first time on June 18 against another battlin’ Brit, Sheffield’s Ryan Rhodes. He ended the exciting bout in style, halting the longtime contender in the 12thround of a bout in Mexico that captivated the nation and set viewing records across the country.
The next stop on Canelo’s amazing ride took place on September 17th, when he stopped Alfonso Gomez in six rounds. He then closed out 2011 with a fifth-round stoppage of former world champion Kermit Cintron.
On May 5, 2012, Canelo defended his belt for the fourth time when he faced future Hall of Famer “Sugar” Shane Mosley as part of the “Ring Kings: Mayweather vs. Cotto” pay-per-view telecast. Even though the fight lasted 12 rounds, the popular Mexican showed the aging veteran the road to retirement, winning via unanimous decision. Once again, young Alvarez made his country proud while continuing his rise to stardom.
The victory over Mosley set up a September 15 showdown with breakout star Josesito Lopez, and despite Lopez’ game effort, Alvarez’ power and strength were too much, as he knocked his opponent down three times before ending the bout with a fifth round TKO.
Next, boxing’s most popular phenom continued on the path to superstardom with a 12 round unanimous decision over WBA champion Austin Trout on May 4, 2013 in front of over 39,000 fans at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The win proved Alvarez’ supremacy at 154 pounds and also made it clear that he was a bonafide ticket seller wherever he decided to fight.
Now the only thing left for Alvarez to prove is his place on the pound-for-pound list, and on September 14, 2013, against the man on top of that list – Floyd Mayweather – he gave a stellar effort before falling short of victory for the first time via 12-round majority decision. The fight ended up being not just the biggest of the year, but the highest grossing bout of all time and the most watched boxing event ever on Mexican television, proving that for Canelo, the best is still yet to come.
On March 8, 2014, Alvarez returned to the ring with a 10th-round technical knockout win over fellow Mexican warrior Alfredo Angulo at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and the Fight Capital of the World was also the site for Canelo’s second win of that year, as he won a hard-fought split decision over Cuba’s Erislandy Lara.
Returning to battle on May 9, 2015, Alvarez delivered one of the most impressive performances of his career against one of his most dangerous foes, as he knocked out Texas slugger James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland in the third round. Later that year on November 21, 2015, Alvarez took yet another impressive step in his career when he scored a 12-round unanimous decision victory against Miguel Cotto to win the lineal, Ring, and WBC Middleweight titles.
In the following year on May 7, 2016, Alvarez defended his titles against the quick-handed Amir Khan with a spectacular sixth-round one-punch knockout that earned him the Knockout of the Year. On September 17, 2016, Canelo returned to the junior middleweight division to take on Liam “Beefy” Smith to win the WBO title. With this victory, Canelo became a four-time two division champion.
On May 6, 2017, in a highly anticipated matchup between two of Mexico’s brightest stars, Canelo scored an impressive and dominant 12-round unanimous decision against Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. in a huge pay-per-view event.
Immediately after the fight, with sweat still dripping from his victory, Alvarez announced his following opponent: WBC, WBA, IBF and IBO Middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. Canelo fought to a controversial split draw in September 2017 what was the biggest boxing event of the year.
A year later in September 2018, Canelo erased all doubts by defeating Golovkin via majority decision to become the WBC, WBA, Lineal and Ring Magazine Middleweight World Champion.
Canelo and Golden Boy Promotions then signed a historic partnership with DAZN, which kicked off on Dec. 15, 2018 when he made history by becoming a three-division world champion against Rocky Fielding in his New York City debut at Madison Square Garden.
On May 4, 2019, Canelo kept his name in the history books by defeating IBF Middleweight World Champion Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs by unanimous decision. Canelo took home his third major middleweight title.
Now, Canelo will try to become the fourth fighter in boxing history to win titles at 154lbs and 175lbs, by moving into the 175-pound weight class in a 12-round fight against Sergey Kovalev. Both champions will fight for the WBO Light Heavyweight World Title on November 2nd, 2019. Canelo is jumping two weight classes, which represents the start of a new phase, but is also the biggest challenge of his professional career.
CANELO ALVAREZ
WEIGHT DIVISION: LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
AGE: 29
DATE OF BIRTH: JULY 18, 1990
HEIGHT: 5’9”
STANCE: ORTHODOX
HOMETOWN: GUADALAJARA, MEXICO
PROFESSIONAL RECORD: 52-1-2 (35 KO)
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION WT. RESULT TITLE
2005
10/29/2005 ABRAHAM GONZALEZ MEX 139 TKO 4 PRO DEB
11/26/2005 PABLO ALVARADO MEX 141 KO 2
2006
01/20/2006 MIGUEL VAZQUEZ MEX 142 W 4
02/11/2006 PEDRO LOPEZ MEX KO 1
06/17/2006 JORGE JUAREZ MEX 144 D 4
07/21/2006 JUAN HERNANDEZ MEX 140 KO 2
09/15/2006 CRISTIAN HERNANDEZ MEX KO 2
09/29/2006 FRANCISCO VILLANUEVA MEX 146 KO 5
12/08/2006 DANIEL MARTINEZ MEX KO 2
2007
03/02/2007 JAVIER MARTINEZ MEX TKO 8
03/30/2007 IVAN ILLESCAS MEX KO 4
05/19/2007 VICTOR MARQUEZ MEX 147 KO 4
06/01/2007 JESUS HERNANDEZ MEX TKO 2
08/18/2007 CHRISTIAN SOLANO MEX 151 W 10
08/31/2007 RICARDO CANO MEX 147 W 12 STATE
12/15/2007 SEAN HOLLEY MEX 148 TKO 2
2008
02/22/2008 AXEL SOLIS MEX 148 KO 1
03/14/2008 FRANCISCO VILLANUEVA MEX 147 TKO 9 STATE
04/18/2008 GABRIEL MARTINEZ MEX 147 TKO 11 FED
06/06/2008 FRANCISCO VILLANUEVA MEX 147 W 10
06/28/2008 MIGUEL VAZQUEZ MEX 148 W 10
08/02/2008 CARLOS JEREZ MEX 147 W 10 FED
10/24/2008 LARRY MOSLEY CA 148 W 10
12/05/2008 RAUL PINZON FL 147 KO 1 FED
2009
01/17/2009 ANTONIO FITCH MEX 147 TKO 1 NABF
02/21/2009 EURI GONZALEZ MEX 147 TKO 11 NABF/WBOL
04/11/2009 MICHEL ROSALES MEX 147 TKO 10 NABF
06/06/2009 JEFERSON GONCALO MEX 147 KO 9 NABF
08/08/2009 MARAT KHUZEEV MEX 147 KO 2 WBC/Y
09/15/2009 CARLOS HERRERA MEX 146 TKO 1 WBC/Y
12/05/2009 LANARDO TYNER MEX 146 W 12 NABF
2010
03/06/2010 JAMES CAMECHIS MEX 147 KO 3 NABF
05/01/2010 JOSE MIGUEL COTTO NV 150 TKO 9
07/10/2010 LUCIANO LEONEL CUELLO MEX 150 TKO 6
09/18/2010 CARLOS BALDOMIR CA 150 KO 6 WBC/SILVE
12/04/2010 LOVEMORE NDOU MEX 149 W 12 WBC/SILVE
2011
03/05/2011 MATTHEW HATTON CA 151 W 12 WBC
06/18/2011 RYAN RHODES MEX 153 TKO 12 WBC
09/17/2011 ALFONSO GOMEZ CA 153 TKO 6 WBC
11/26/2011 KERMIT CINTRON MEX 154 TKO 5 WBC
2012
05/05/2012 SHANE MOSLEY NV 154 W 12 WBC
09/15/2012 JOSE LOPEZ NV 154 TKO 5 WBC
2013
04/20/2013 AUSTIN TROUT TX 153 W 12 BA/BC
09/14/2013 FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. NV 152 L 12 BA/BC
2014
03/08/2014 ALFREDO ANGULO NV 155 TKO 10
07/12/2014 ERISLANDY LARA NV 155 W 12
2015
05/09/2015 JAMES KIRKLAND TX 154 KO 3
11/21/2015 MIGUEL COTTO NV 155 W 12 WBC/RING
2016
05/07/2016 AMIR KHAN NV 155 KO 6 WBC
09/17/2016 LIAM SMITH TX 154 KO 7 WBO
2017
05/06/2017 JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ, JR. NV 164.5 W 12
09/16/2017 GENNADY GOLOVKIN NV 160 D 12 WBC/WBA/IBFIBO
2018
09/15/2018 GENNADY GOLOVKIN NV 160 W 12 WBC/WBA/IBO
12/15/2018 ROCKY FIELDING NY 167 TKO 3 WBA
2019
05/04/2019 DANIEL JACOBS NV 159 W 12 BFBABCIB