Canelo Alvarez says people claiming he is on the decline are ‘stupid’ and that he is going to prove he is ‘still at the top’ during his fight with Jermell Charlo this weekend.
The Mexican superstar will put his four super-middleweight belts on the line against the younger Charlo twin, who is stepping up two divisions from light middleweight, on Saturday night.
It is Canelo’s third consecutive defence of his 168lbs crown, following victories over Britain’s John Ryder and Gennady Golovkin. It is also the first time in the four-belt era that two reigning undisputed champions have collided.
However, fans have questioned whether Canelo is still at the top of his game after witnessing a dip in performance against Ryder and Golovkin. Additionally, the Mexican has failed to register a knockout since Caleb Plant in 2021.
But, Canelo is refusing to let the cricitism get to him. Instead, he said people claiming he is on the decline are ‘stupid’ and that fans will always ‘have something to say’.
Canelo Alvarez says people claiming he is on the decline are ‘stupid’ and that he is going to prove he is ‘still at the top’ during his fight with Jermell Charlo this weekend
The Mexican superstar will put his four super-middleweight belts on the line against the younger Charlo twin, who is stepping up two divisions from light middleweight, on Saturday
Speaking at Wednesday’s press conference, Canelo said: ‘You can never ‘prove anything’ to the people, they always have something to say. I just want to prove it to myself, that I’m still at the top.’
‘It’s hard to say what he’s going to find. He’s going to feel it. It’s hard to say and explain. It’s something different, and he’s going to realise, it’s something different. He’s never been in against a fighter like me.’
‘It means a lot, all I want for my career is history. I want to achieve a lot of things in my career, this is one of them.’
Canelo went on to say the following after the press conference: ‘I think they are stupid. I had my injuries and that slowed me down a little bit because I wasn’t able to train 100 per cent. But just wait for Saturday night.’
Meanwhile, Charlo – who currently holds all of the major belts at junior middleweight – will be jumping up 14 lbs and two divisions as he attempts to become just the second man after Terence Crawford to achieve undisputed status at multiple weight classes in the four-belt era.
However, Charlo – who like Errol Spence and Anthony Joshua is trained by Derrick James in Dallas – has not fought since beating Brian Castano in their rematch in May 2022.