By Mohamed Horomtallah: Let me start by saying that this author is Canelo Alvarez’s biggest fan. I’m in awe of his skills and the improvements he displays fight after fight. Simply put: Canelo is the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world and the one with the most beautiful style to watch.
That being said, his personality has dramatically changed lately. He is speaking English now and is definitely more outspoken which is great for promoting his brand. The problem with the new Canelo is that he crosses certain lines with the blessings of old media.
When he pushed Caleb Plant during their press conference last week in Los Angeles, he started the whole altercation and his excuse for doing so was that the IBF champion called him “mothef…”
The problem I have with that is there are two possibilities:
A) Canelo does not know that the swear word was not used literally in this case and therefore he’s using that to disguise his anger.
B) Canelo knows that it was an insult that did not involve his mother just like when calling someone “bastard” is usually not talking about being born out of wedlock.
Either way, it’s not a good look. Canelo did use the same swear word against Andrade when he asked him when he was going to fight him after congratulating him on his win.
Did Canelo insult just Andrade or did he involve his mother?
If he only meant to insult Andrade, then he shouldn’t complain when Plant does the same to him. If you dish it out you gotta be able to take it.
If Canelo meant to actually insult Andrade’s mother, then he shouldn’t be surprised to receive the same insult from Plant. What goes around comes around.
The reasons why Canelo lost it in the press conference are the fact that Plant brought out the PEDS issue and stood up to him.
Canelo likes his opponents to be docile and praise him.
I gave him the benefit of the doubt with respect to the failed clenbuterol test but he should expect some people to bring it up. It comes with the territory. He should either give counterarguments or not address them at all instead of looking for excuses to justify his anger.
As for fighters standing up to him, people have different personalities and unlike Jose Benavidez Sr, who’s been going way out of his way to defend and praise Canelo in hopes of landing a big fight for his son, David, not everyone else will necessarily bow to Alvarez and please him in order to share the ring with him.
In conclusion, Canelo’s new personality is a plus for the sport. An outspoken and colorful Canelo can help bring more eyeballs and more coverage but he should not step out of line or contradicts himself in the process.