Ahead of his super middleweight unification bout with Caleb Plant (21-0, 12 KOs), Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) had an interview with BT Sport where he gave his opinion on some of the biggest stars in sport.The legendary boxing pundit Steve Bunce showed photos of some seriously high-profile athletes, and here is what the pound for pound superstar had to say.Mexican footballer Javier Hernandez was the first to be shown and Canelo described him as a “great player and a good friend.” No surprises here as both have probably met countless times and are two of the most successful Mexican sportsmen in recent years.Next was Tiger Woods, who is “the GOAT” according to Canelo, who now plays plenty of golf in his spare time with professionals and starts with an impressive nine or 10 handicap.Canelo mentions he has asked to play golf with Woods and the American legend might be at the fight tonight.Lionel Messi followed and the boxer described the Argentinian as “one of the best players,” seemingly being slightly more complimentary than when asked about Cristiano Ronaldo, who he only stated as a “great player.”None other than the Gypsy King was next and Canelo explained how Tyson Fury is a “good boxer, with a lot of skills.” He then went on to talk about Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) and his fight with Deontay Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) which he described as a “really good fight” because both men were dropped and it made for an entertaining spectacle.
After this, Bunce showed a picture of boxing superstar Anthony “AJ” Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) who has recently visited Canelo’s gym and Eddie Reynoso in search of new training opportunities.
Canelo says AJ is a “really nice guy and a good boxer with a lot of skills.” Both have a mutual friend in Eddie Hearn and have been two of the most popular boxers in the last few years, so there is plenty of mutual respect there.
When shown Katie Taylor (19-0, 6 KOs) Canelo says she is “a really good fighter and he loves watching her." A powerful statement for women’s boxing from the pound for pound best in men's boxing.
Last but not least, the one and only Conor McGregor was shown to Canelo, who Bunce states has wanted to fight him for years.
Canelo’s response was to “not try, man,” which implies he has very little interest in any boxing-UFC crossover bout and perhaps doesn’t take McGregor as a serious boxer, despite his fight with Floyd Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) a few years ago.