Jermell Charlo says he is willing to give Canelo Alvarez ‘the respect he deserves’ but refuses to ‘kiss the Mexican’s a***’ ahead of their blockbuster bout on Saturday.
Canelo will put his four super-middleweight belts on the line against Charlo, who will be stepping up two divisions from light middleweight, on Saturday evening.
The younger Charlo twin credits Canelo with ‘doing awesome thing for his country’ and claims the 33-year-old has a ‘good fan base’.
However, Charlo refuses to ‘kiss Canelo’s a**’ just because the Mexican is ‘a superstar’ in and out of the ring.
The undisputed light middleweight world champion said: ‘I’m not about to be over there kissing your ass because you great. I wanna fight.’
Jermell Charlo says he is willing to give Canelo ‘the respect he deserves’ but refuses to ‘kiss the Mexican’s a***’ ahead of their blockbuster bout on Saturday
Canelo will put his four super-middleweight belts on the line against Charlo, who will be stepping up two divisions from light middleweight, on Saturday evening
‘At the end of the day, I give Canelo all of the respect he deserves. He’s calling shots, he’s a superstar around the world outside of boxing.’
Charlo finished by saying: ‘He’s [Canelo] done awesome things for his country and he got a good fan base.’
Meanwhile, Canelo has vowed to teach Charlo a lesson after the younger Charlo twin criticised the Mexican’s skills and dubbed himself a ‘motherf***ing lion’ at their press conference.
When asked whether he would was underestimating Charlo, Canelo said: ‘I never did, and I never do with any fighter. I know what he’s gonna bring, and I’m ready, believe me. I’ve been in the ring with all kinds of fighters.’
Charlo snapped back saying: ‘Never been in the ring with me though’. To which Canelo replied: ‘You don’t know. You haven’t experienced this kind of fight. You will see. And you will learn. You have a lot of skills, but this is different, and you will see.’
Charlo – who currently holds all of the major belts at junior middleweight – was quick to respond to the Mexican super star, saying: ‘I’m a motherf***ing lion’.
Canelo couldn’t help but laugh at Charlo before responding by saying: ‘It’s gonna be a great fight. I don’t know what animal I need to say to beat a lion, but whatever. I’m that animal.’
Canelo went on to speak about his motivation heading into Saturday night’s fight, he said: ‘I feel great. I feel ready for this fight. Yes, Jermell is right, I have nothing to prove. But especially this time, I have something to prove to him, because he never believed in my skills.
‘He’s always calling me out, and now I have the opportunity to show him my skills, and that’s motivating me. I had a really great camp, and I’m ready to show everyone my skills, my real skills.’
‘I always train 100 percent, I always motivate myself, but in this fight, even more. I have this motivation that he never believed in my skills, he was always calling me out. I’m ready to show him in a couple days.’