Canelo Alvarez's incredible career has taken in an amazing 67 professional contests and we have picked out ten of the best fights involving the Mexican great.
Alvarez has a record of 63-2-2 with 32 knockouts and is not yet done.
The 35-year-old has held world titles in four weight divisions, from light-middleweight to light-heavyweight and the Guadalajara fighter became a two-time undisputed super-middleweight king when beating William Scull in May.
Canelo’s clash with former two-weight undisputed champion Terence Crawford is just a couple of weeks away and we take a look at the ten best fights of Alvarez’s career ahead of that Las Vegas showdown.
10. Gennady Golovkin – September 2022
The 2022 clash between Canelo and Gennady Golovkin marked the climax of the trilogy of bouts between the pair and it settled the score for the Mexican.
The 35-year-old had previously shared a draw with GGG, before winning by majority decision, but the trilogy contest left no doubt that Canelo was king.
The Las Vegas battle wasn’t the most entertaining of the three fights, but the Guadalajara fighter got the victory and answered any lingering questions.
9. Billy Joe Saunders – May 2021
Canelo has faced tougher tests in his career than the one Billy Joe Saunders offered in their 2021 bout, but the Brit had plenty to say in the build up to the contest and Alvarez dismissed the challenge.
The super-middleweight king retired Saunders in round eight and the Brit wasn’t so brash following the loss.
8. Caleb Plant – November 2021
Caleb Plant was another fighter who appeared to get under Canelo’s skin, but the American learned the hard way when Alvarez stopped him in Round 11.
The 35-year-old produced a destructive end to the fight to down Plant twice in the closing rounds and capture his IBF super-middleweight belt.
7. Floyd Mayweather Jr – September 2013
It’s crazy to think that Canelo took on Floyd Mayweather 12 years ago and it’s even more ridiculous that a fighter who has been up to light-heavyweight in his career boxed the all-time great at welterweight.
Alvarez was outpointed, but it was a creditable performance from the Mexican and it announced the Guadalajara boxer as an elite-level performer.
6. Matthew Hatton – May 2011
The list of belts won by Alvarez is almost endless, but his first major title came when outpointing Matthew Hatton for the WBC light-middleweight title in 2011.
The Mexican was only 20 years old when claiming the WBC strap and it marked the first of a wealth of world titles.
5. Gennadiy Golovkin – 2017
At the time of the first contest between Alvarez and Golovkin, Triple G was a middleweight monster who had ripped through the division.
The Mexican has attracted criticism for perhaps not always extending himself when it comes to the quality of opponent, but Golovkin was an elite-level operator.
The pair shared a split-decision draw and that was the start of a fantastic trilogy of fights.
4. Gennadiy Golovkin – 2018
The first contest between Alvarez and Golovkin was a closely-fought contest, but many observers believed that Triple G deserved the decision.
The Mexican had a score to settle, both with the Kazakhstan boxer and those who believed that the 35-year-old had lost the 2017 tussle.
The super-middleweight king delivered just that when getting a majority-decision verdict in what was another enthralling fight.
3. Sergey Kovalev – November 2019
In 2019 Alvarez moved up two weight divisions to face big-hitting light-heavyweight Sergey Kovalev.
Not only did the Mexican step up to the challenge of Kovalev, he scored a fantastic 11th-round knockout to land the WBO light-heavyweight belt.
2. Miguel Cotto – November 2015
Miguel Cotto was in the twilight of his career when meeting Alvarez in Las Vegas, but the Puerto Rican was a four-weight world champion and it was the first top-level test Canelo had faced since the 2013 defeat to Mayweather.
The super-middleweight hero scored a wide-margin victory over Cotto and announced his return to the big time in style.
1. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr – May 2017
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr wasn’t a fighter anywhere near the level of Canelo, but this was a hyped all-Mexican clash and it marked a step up to super-middleweight for the 35-year-old.
The Guadalajara man cruised to a wide-margin victory over Chavez, but more importantly the contest opened the door for Canelo to take on the best in the super-middleweight division.
