At age 34, Oscar De La Hoya made his biggest payday ever as he lost competitively to Floyd Mayweather Jr., only to find himself a shot fighter by 35.
A month before his 34th birthday, Julio Cesar Chavez got sliced up by De La Hoya, a fight that signaled the end of his time at the top and left him hanging on the next few years in a state where he could beat most journeymen but would lose to any truly world-class fighter.
Every boxer ages differently, of course. And the average boxer of today ages better than the average boxer of any previous generation did.
But it’s notable that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who turned 34 over the summer, is reaching the number of candles on the cake that proved a turning point for the biggest Mexican superstar and the biggest Mexican-American superstar of the eras that preceded his own.
It’s hard to say with confidence how close to the end of his prime or the end of his career Canelo is, but between the “age 34” thing, the fact that he turned pro at 15 and has fought 496 rounds across 65 pro fights, and the reality that he hasn’t scored a knockout win in almost three years (as fair an indication as any that he is physically slowing down), boxing fans need to begin bracing themselves. It’s very much, “Enjoy it while you can, because it could end at any time.”
And in a sense, maybe it’s already over.
Look, every time a fighter climbs through the ropes, he’s taking a risk. Let’s establish that baseline and not disrespect Canelo. But all recent indications are that Alvarez has reached a mindset at which moderate risk is preferable to major risk. He’s choosing to coast, to the extent that a man who trades punches for a living can coast. And he may be committed to that choice for the duration.
Since losing to Dmitry Bivol in May 2022, a maximum-risk fight in a higher weight class against an undefeated boxer with a challenging style – matchmaking that was of a piece with much of the other greatness-hunting Canelo had done in his career to that point – he has dialed it down. A third fight with a 40-year-old Gennady Golokvin was mostly a cash grab. By this time, there was demand building for Alvarez to face David Benavidez. He instead took on John Ryder, who never had a prayer. Then came Jermell Charlo, an excellent (if much smaller) fighter who seemed a possible threat coming in, so Canelo gets a pass there in my book. By this point, Benavidez’s name was being screamed, not whispered. Canelo chose Jaime Munguia, who was made-to-order and just marketable enough. In two days, he will take on Edgar Berlanga, who has entered a three-way battle with Avni Yildirim and Rocky Fielding for the title of Alvarez’s least-worthy opponent since he reached the championship level.
The four-division titleholder, two-division lineal champ and first-ballot Hall of Famer may be completely content with his legacy. His decision-making the last couple of years suggests he is. And if so, that’s understandable. I’m the guy who said Canelo owes us nothing, and I’m sticking to it.
But if he is still interested in challenging himself post-Berlanga, still interested in striving to achieve great things, still interested in enhancing his legacy, Alvarez still has quite a few options.
I’ll start with the obvious one: Benavidez. Canelo has succeeded in so lowering the bar of our expectations that simply agreeing to fight Benavidez would score him legacy points, regardless of the outcome. The fight seems highly unlikely to happen – Canelo’s best chance to beat “The Mexican Monster” (who isn’t Mexican, but let’s not get bogged down with details) was a couple of years ago. If Alvarez wanted that fight, he would have made it by now. With each passing month, the in-ring advantage inches in the younger Benavidez’s favor.
But if, hypothetically, it happened, and Canelo won in some non-controversial fashion, it could actually go down as the defining victory of his storied career. It would be like Bernard Hopkins turning back Felix Trinidad or Terence Crawford beating up Errol Spence Jr. or Shane Mosley smacking around Antonio Margarito – that win for a not-so-young-anymore boxer over a scary younger opponent that elevates the aging icon in every way. Alvarez would re-enter the conversation for pound-for-pound supremacy. He would likely alter his standing in the greatest-Mexican-boxer-ever debate. Whether he faces Benavidez at 168 pounds, 175 pounds or some catchweight in between, this is clearly the fight for Alvarez to make if he does indeed still want to add to his legacy – in part because it still appears to these eyes entirely winnable.
There’s another option that probably does even more for Alvarez’s legacy if he wins it, but in which he would be a clear underdog, and that’s a fight with whoever wins Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev. If that’s Bivol, it’s a rematch/revenge situation for Canelo. If that’s Beterbiev, it’s an all-out war against the man who conquered Canelo’s conqueror. And either way, it’s for the light heavyweight championship. Alvarez becoming The Man at 160, 168 and 175 is the stuff of legends.
Then there’s the possibility of going even higher on the scale, if slightly lower in the perceived quality of opponent. Canelo has flirted before with the idea of trying to snag a cruiserweight belt (remember the talk in 2021 of him facing Ilunga “Junior” Makabu?), and there are now a couple of options if he’s game for giving up 20 or so functional pounds. He could challenge Jai Opetaia for the lineal title – a tough hill to climb. But if Roy Jones Jr. could beat John Ruiz and Oleksander Usyk could beat Tyson Fury, maybe Alvarez could outfight a top cruiser. Or he could take on the winner between Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and Chris Billam-Smith for an alphabet belt. My gut instinct is to make Canelo a favorite to beat Zurdo right now, regardless of whether they look like those famous pictures of Aaron Judge and Jose Altuve standing next to each other.
Canelo could also glance in the other direction on the scale. I know he has insisted that facing Crawford is a no-win situation for him, but I don’t see it that way. Maybe Alvarez wouldn’t get full credit in the moment. But as the years go on and the details become fuzzy and the number of fans and writers who were alive at the time dwindle, “Bud” Crawford will be one more all-time great on Canelo’s record, details and circumstances be damned. It is, to a small extent, a legacy fight for Canelo – and on top of that, it’s a far bigger payday than he is fetching for the Berlangas and Munguias, and it’s most likely a “W.”
Then there’s one more fight out there that could elevate Alvarez’s legacy. Promise you won’t laugh? It’s Jake Paul. No, beating the Bizaardvark out of Paul wouldn’t earn Canelo respect among serious boxing fans. But it would delight millions who want to see Jake get wrecked. And it would make Alvarez a hero to haters of the Paul brothers or of “influencer” culture in general.
Anthony Joshua certainly got plenty of positive attention for starching Francis Ngannou and defending the honor of boxing. Same with Mayweather for taking care of business against Conor McGregor. As long as you win, fights that make you more famous with more people beef up your legacy. I recently had a conversation with a teenager who has hardly watched any boxing but is under the impression that Floyd is the GOAT. Mayweather’s win over McGregor was one more important vehicle for helping spread the gospel in this age of “alternative facts.”
I’m not saying I personally want to see Canelo vs. Paul. But I think I’m more interested in that sideshow-style event than I am in Canelo vs. the Vladimir Shishkin-William Scull winner. Or Canelo vs. Jermall Charlo, a bout that seems always a threat to get re-suggested.
I’m even at least half-serious when I say that I’d be more excited for Canelo vs. Paul if it were happening this weekend than I am for Canelo vs. Berlanga, a fight with a -1600 favorite according to DraftKings.
Canelo Alvarez’s record isn’t lacking for legacy fights. He faced Mayweather, he took on Golovkin three times, he challenged Bivol and he beat Miguel Cotto, Mosley, Sergey Kovalev, Daniel Jacobs, Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout, Carlos Baldomir, Caleb Plant, Billy Joe Saunders, Callum Smith, Jermell Charlo, James Kirkland and on and on.
If he’s in cash-out mode, never to buy back in, I can’t blame him.
But if Canelo still wants to try to add to his legacy after he has finished with Berlanga, for however much longer his body is going to let him, he has fistfuls of options. It’s up to him to let his hands go.
Eric Raskin is a veteran boxing journalist with more than 25 years of experience covering the sport for such outlets as BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy, Ringside Seat, and The Ring (where he served as managing editor for seven years). He also co-hosted The HBO Boxing Podcast, Showtime Boxing with Raskin & Mulvaney, The Interim Champion Boxing Podcast with Raskin & Mulvaney, and Ring Theory. He has won three first-place writing awards from the BWAA, for his work with The Ring, Grantland, and HBO. Outside boxing, he is the senior editor of CasinoReports and the author of 2014’s The Moneymaker Effect. He can be reached on X or LinkedIn, or via email at [email protected].
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