Canelo Alvarez Rejects Claim Boxing Needs “Saving” Ahead of crawford Fight
Las Vegas, NV – Canelo Alvarez emphatically defended boxing’s stature in the sports world during a heated exchange with boxing analyst Max Kellerman at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference for his upcoming bout against Terence Crawford. The exchange occurred as Kellerman praised UFC CEO Dana White, suggesting White is poised to “save” boxing with his planned expansion into the sport beginning in 2026.
“Dana White is the greatest combat sports promoter in my lifetime,” Kellerman stated. “He built an institution. Boxing’s not as popular as it used to be anymore,right? UFC is really popular. That’s because of Dana White.He built something like the NBA. Stop [booing], because he’s about to do it again, for boxing now. You want an NBA or an NFL in boxing? Hear it comes, because he knows how to build an institution.”
Alvarez swiftly countered Kellerman’s assessment. “Hey Max, boxing is always bigger,” Alvarez said.”Bigger and bigger. Don’t say boxing is not big enough. Boxing is big. You know how big is boxing. Maybe it’s going to be bigger, but look, boxing is always big, and big, and bigger, and bigger.Talk about that too. Boxing is boxing. Respect for other sports.Great job and everything, but boxing is boxing.”
Crawford echoed Alvarez’s sentiment, interjecting with “no lies” during Alvarez’s response. White was present and observed the exchange with a smile.
The incident comes amid scrutiny of White’s plans for boxing, including TKO’s support of the Ali American Boxing Revival Act, which aims to alter regulations governing boxing promotion.
Alvarez will defend his undisputed super middleweight title against Crawford this Saturday, april 27th, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The fight will be streamed live on Netflix.
