LAS VEGAS ? It is Cinco de Mayo time in the boxing capital of the world, and this year it belongs solely to Mexico?s Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez. Floyd Mayweather had the time around the Mexican holiday reserved in Vegas the last several years, but he is now retired. And with Manny Pacquaio also retired and campaigning for a Senate seat in the Philippines, the sport has an opening.
Canelo, the WBC and lineal middleweight champion who fights Amir Khan on Saturday at the new T-Mobile Arena (HBO pay-per-view, 9 p.m., ET) is ready to fill that opening. And as his promoter Oscar De La Hoya knows, Canelo has the ideal resume to be the new face of boxing.
?We haven?t had a fighter with crossover appeal since, probably myself,? said De La Hoya, who was boxing?s biggest star and top pay-per-view attraction during his heyday of the ?90s and 2000s. ?Manny Pacquiao brought in the masses on a global scale, Mayweather brought in all those fans who wanted to see him lose, and the many fans that supported him.
?But with Canelo, you have the die-hard boxing fans, you have the casual fans who are curious, but one important element is the women fans. The women who support Canelo because he?s good looking, he dresses well, he?s charismatic. It?s unique to the sport and we don?t get it very often. The last time it happened was with me, and before that, nobody.?
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Canelo, 25, is so big these days he needs only one name; his given name, Saul, is all but forgotten. He has grown even to the point where fans and the media talk about not only his current fight but also his next one.
The opponent everyone is pointing to for Canelo (46-1-1, 32 KOs) now is Gennady ?Triple G? Golovkin, the undefeated knockout artist who has 22 consecutive KOs. If Canelo beats Khan, he has a mandatory against Golovkin and a 15-day window to decide if he will fight the Kazakhstani.
Asked if he were afraid of Golovkin, Canelo came about as close to creating a controversy as he ever will.
?I?ve fought the best. I?ve never been afraid of anyone,? Canelo said. ?My record speaks for itself. You look at my 10 opponents compared to his 10 opponents, and you guys can see it. There?s no reason to be afraid of him. And it?s not about business. If it was about that, we would have made the fight already because it?s a big fight. But he needs to work his way up. He needs to earn his shot.?
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If there is one negative to Canelo being the ?face of boxing,? it?s his inability or unwillingness to speak English. He does all his interviews in Spanish. De La Hoya knows his star needs to learn the language if he is going to be as big in the U.S. as he is in Mexico.
?Believe me, I?ve bought about nine Rosetta Stones for him,? De La Hoya said of the program that teaches languages. ?And I?m going to buy No. 10 once we finish this fight.?
Canelo, with his distinctive red hair and stylish wardrobe, seems always under control. He is know for never saying the wrong thing. Asked this week his reaction to Donald Trump?s comments about building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and his negative characterization of immigrants, Canelo?s most controversial comment was that Trump?s words were offensive.
Asked about Mayweather?s possible comeback talk that presumably was to take a bit of the attention away from his fight with Khan, Canelo said simply, ?I don?t know and to be honest, it doesn?t matter.?
Boring? Perhaps, but maybe boxing could use a little boring on the heels of the tumultuous Mayweather era, and after Pacquiao?s recent comments about gays that embarrassed the sport.
?He?s clean-cut, he says the right things, he has a good head on his shoulders and he?s never in trouble,? De La Hoya said of Alvarez. ?Offseason he doesn?t drink or smoke, he?s a perfect candidate to be a great representative for many years to come.?
Canelo said he is honored to be thought of as the new face of boxing.
?It?s a position where any fighter would like to be. But it?s also a great responsibility to have it, and that?s where the hard work comes in,? he said. ?But I?m very honored and I love it and enjoy it.?
In the next breath, he added, ?But I leave that up to the media and fans to decide.?
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Born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, Canelo has been fighting professionally since he was 15. He learned to box by watching videos of Sugar Ray Robinson, said his trainer, Eddy Reynoso.
He was teased as a child because of his red hair ? his nickname, Canelo, means ?Cinnamon? in Spanish ? and said he fought a lot.
?I was called names and always had to defend myself,? he said. ?Yes, I was different, so there was always the name calling, but as far as the boxing and fighting, it?s something you?re born with. It?s in your blood.?
He trains in San Diego and lives most of the time in Guadalajara with his mother and young daughter.
Part of Canelo?s broad appeal comes from his willingness to fight anyone any time. He took on the biggest challenge of his career when he fought Mayweather in 2013 in what was the biggest-grossing fight of all time ? until Mayweather-Pacquiao a year ago.
Canelo got a real boxing lesson and was thrashed by Mayweather, but he never dwelled on the loss. De La Hoya says he?s a much better boxer than he was then.
?Just more experienced,? said De La Hoya. ?He was only 22 when he fought Floyd. I mean, wow! He has better footwork, he?s more aggressive, he?s using his jab a lot, which is great. He?s just overall a hundred times better than when he fought Floyd.?
