Canelo Alvarez on others being called the face of boxing: 'I'm not retired yet'

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez hosted a media round table and adressed the recent topic of "The new faces of boxing" and more as he gets ready to face John Ryder on Saturday.

Boxing’s biggest star, undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (58-2-2), returns to the ring on Saturday against interim WBO champ John Ryder (32-5). This will be a massive homecoming for Canelo as he will be entering the ring in front of over 50,000 fans which will be one of the largest boxing events to be held in Mexico since the days of Hall of Famer Julio Cesar Chavez.

Hours before Canelo had to step on the scale to make the fight official, he held a media roundtable with a select few journalists, and FanSidedMMA was part of the group who were given time for a Q&A session with the pound-for-pound great.

Before getting to the questions from FanSidedMMA, Canelo fielded questions that were pointed toward a potential rematch with WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol. Canelo wasn’t upset but did seem as if it’s a subject that still bothers him until he can make it right. Canelo also mentioned that he has been battling a hand injury for over two years and felt that affected his performance in the last couple of fights.

Canelo gave insight into his conversation with his promoter Eddie Hearn from Matchroom Sports. Hearn told Canelo to "enjoy the moment," and Canelo added, "It’s hard to put together an event like this (in Mexico)."

When changing the conversation from Saturday’s event to the recent trending topic of “The new faces of boxing” after Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia surpassed the million PPV buys mark, Canelo just smiled at Ring Magazine’s Editor in Chief Doug Fischer. Then the 32-year-old undisputed super-middleweight champion said, “I’m not retired yet. One fight doesn’t put you in that position."

Canelo Alvarez vs. John Ryder will stream live on DAZN PPV ($54.99 for current subscribers)

Then it came down to me speaking to Canelo, we asked "Who’s walking you out on Saturday?” This question comes from Canelo having had international superstar artists like J Balvin, Mana and Alejandro Fernandez walk him out in recent separate fights. So after asking him, Canelo gave that million-dollar smile and told FanSidedMMA, “It’s a surprise, but I will say that it’ll represent Jalisco, Canelo, and the people of Jalisco.” 

When people talk about Saturday’s fight 10 years from now, how does he want this fight to be remembered?

“A great night," he told FanSided MMA. "It’s a night that I am preparing for everyone who has been with me since the start. I want the people always to remember that night. I’m doing it for them (the people of Jalisco) and those who are tuning in from all over the world.”

While continuing the legacy conversation and attempting to do this fight in Mexico in years past but failing to do so, Canelo said, “It was well worth the wait. I am very happy and grateful for the people (of Jalisco) and the statue they made of me. In the end, it made it all worth it.”

Like any other Canelo fight in recent years, the world will be tuned in. As he tries to make the fight on Saturday extra special for his hometown fans, he will continue to add to his Hall of Fame legacy while hoping to avenge his loss to Bivol later this year.