SAN DIEGO — The question was innocuous, the response shocking.
Believe him or not, Canelo Alvarez said he would not be interested in fighting unbeaten former super-middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez. And he won’t be swayed even if Ramirez defeats unbeaten World Boxing Association light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol — who previously took down Alvarez — in November.
“If it’s Zurdo, I don’t want to fight with Mexicans … I represent Mexico,” Alvarez told USA TODAY Sports at his media day in San Diego. “I think Zurdo has a chance to win (against Bivol), and I want him to win.”
Boxing’s former pound-for-pound king, Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs), spent his formative years fighting a slew of his countrymen while building his career as an immensely popular television fighter in Mexico. The four-division champion most recently entered the ring against a Mexican in 2017, routing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. by unanimous decision.
Since then, he’s fought Eastern Europeans, including long-reigning middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin. The Canelo-Golovkin trilogy takes place Sept. 17 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be Alvarez’s 11th consecutive bout against a non-Mexican foe.
Other foes included: Americans Caleb Plant and Daniel Jacobs; Englishmen Rocky Fielding, Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders; Turkey’s Avni Yildirim; and Russia’s Bivol and Sergey Kovalev.
‘Two Mexicans in the ring guarantees a war’ USA TODAY Sports asked Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) about Alvarez’s stance while he promoted his Nov. 5 fight in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
He flashed a grin.
“As a fighter, I want to fight with the best — anyone,” Ramirez said. “Two Mexicans in the ring guarantees a war.
“I don’t know why he wouldn’t want to fight a Mexican.”
Ramirez also revealed he will achieve American citizenship next month.
“Zurdo and his manager want the best fights. That’s what he wants, to be great,” said Eric Gomez, who is the president of Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotion and works with Ramirez. “You have to fight the best. Canelo’s a great champion. He’s earned the right to be able to pick and choose who he wants.”
Alvarez split bitterly from De La Hoya following a breach-of-contract lawsuit over the unraveling of a 10-fight, $350-million deal with streaming service DAZN.
“If he doesn’t want to fight (Ramirez), we’ll move on,” Gomez said. “But ‘Zurdo’ wants to fight the best.”
Up next: Canelo-Golovkin III
Alvarez’s decision could lead him either to another 175-pound Russian champion, three-belt-wearing Artur Beterbiev. Or perhaps a date at 168 pounds against unbeaten middleweight champion Jermall Charlo of Houston or unbeaten former 168-pound champion David Benavidez.
But first, he renews his familiar rivalry with Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs), an opponent he knows better than any other in his career.
As he nears the completion of his third training camp for Golovkin — after battling through 24 prior rounds without either hard-hitting combatant touching the canvas — Alvarez knows exactly what he’s in for.
The easiest of those acknowledgments is knowing the stakes of the fight are once again immense.
Alvarez, 32, also knows his bitter rival turned 40 and that he has been marked up by lesser foes since their 2018 rematch.
