Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
After Jorge Masvidal defeated Nate Diaz at last Saturday night’s (Nov. 2, 2019) UFC 244 pay-per-view (PPV) event in New York City, “Gamebred” lay the gauntlet down to another combatant during the post-fight presser.
And it wasn’t in the mixed martial arts (MMA) game, as he went to the boxing world to try and claim his next victim.
“If Canelo wants to get his ass kicked that’s a fight I’ll take. I’m here to get the biggest checks possible,” said Jorge. While most simply played it off as a playful jab, Jorge is dead serious.
During a recent interview on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Masvidal talked about a potential showdown against the now four-division boxing champion.
“I’m dead serious about fighting Canelo Alvarez. If they give me nice little change, I will take my talents over there. I’m going or the off button man. I feel like I can shock the world,” he added.
“Canelo is a better boxer and has thrown 10,000 more jabs than me because that’s what he does morning and night, just box. So yeah he is a better boxer. But can I bring some elements that boxers aren’t used to, that are in the legal rounds of boxing and throw Canelo completely off his game? Fuck yes!”
In Jorge’s assessment, he feels he can use his and length to throw off Alvarez, who is a staggering 53-1-2.
“I’m a naturally bigger dude and I punch like a fucking truck and if I got those boxing gloves on I’m not afraid to break my hand so I’ll be able to hit a bit extra harder. I feel like I can be a legitimate ass threat in there,” he added.
That said, Jorge says he is no way shape or form disrespecting the “beast” that is Alvarez and it would be an honor to share the ring with him, he’s just super confident in his skills and ability to shock the world.
Alvarez won his latest world title the same night Masvidal defeated Diaz, as he defeated Sergey Kovalev via eleventh round knockout to claim the WBO Light Heavyweight belt (highlights), two divisions above his usual fighting weight.
The win further added to Canelo’s growing legacy as one of the best boxers of all time, with his lone loss coming to Floyd Mayweather six years ago.
As far as Jorge getting the chance to actually take on Alvarez, that will be a tough match to lock down seeing as how Oscar de la Hoya — Canelo’s promoter — and UFC president Dana White aren’t the best of friends.