Canelo Alvarez pulled a Conor McGregor when responding to the MMA manager.
Few would argue that Canelo Alvarez is the best boxer on the planet right now. The 31-year-old has looked unstoppable since a majority decision loss to Floyd Mayweather in 2013. Since then he’s gone undefeated to advance his record to an astonishing 57-1-2.
Alvarez, who blasted through Avni Yildirim, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant last year to retain his undisputed super middleweight title, is due to face Dmitry Bivol on May 7 for the WBA (Super) light heavyweight title.
Over the last few years Alvarez has had to field questions about whether he would divert from serious boxing opponents to entertain challengers from the world of MMA and YouTube. Alvarez hasn’t ruled out a fight with influencer Jake Paul, though it’s clearly not something he’s given much serious thought to.
More recently he was asked about a hypothetical fight with UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Again he didn’t rule it out, but said it was unlikely to happen.
After this Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, took to Twitter to rail against the boxing superstar.
“[Canelo]” is an absolute chicken,” wrote Abdelaziz. “He is fighting guys with 5000 followers on Instagram, these guys will never do nothing for his legacy. Now I understand why he doesn’t wanna lose to someone like [Usman] this is chicken style, no risk — no reward.”
who the fuck is this? https://t.co/ThN5aMcUoW
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) April 26, 2022
To this Alvarez responded with an epic clap-back, simply asking: “who the fuck is this?”
The comeback reminded many of what went down on September 27, 2016 during the UFC 205 press conference. At that event, Jeremy Stephens chirped from the back row of the stage in an attempt to get the attention of headliner Conor McGregor.
In response, the Irishman looked over his shoulder and coolly delivered the immortal words: “who the fuck is that guy?”
You can’t blame Usman for looking for opportunities outside the UFC. Not only would a bout with Alvarez be more lucrative than anything he could do inside the Octagon, but ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is also running out of fresh opponents at 170 lbs.
Last time out, at UFC 268, he defended his title against Colby Covington (for the second time). He has also defended the belt versus Jorge Masvidal (twice) and Gilbert Burns. He also holds wins over Tyron Woodley, Rafael dos Anjos and Demian Maia.