“Every day we learn something new, and this time it was my turn.”
There was a brewing beef between boxing superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and football hotshot Lionel Messi. It all stemmed from the World Cup match between Argentina and Mexico over the weekend, where the former won with a 2-0 tally.
Messi was then accused of kicking and jumping on a Mexico jersey during the post-match celebration in the locker room.
Stop spreading false hate towards Lionel Messi.
People are believing those screen shots without watching a moving clip. #Messi #Mexico pic.twitter.com/I5qZ2Uu5R6— Leo Messi – The Magician (@LM10TheMagician) November 28, 2022
This irked Alvarez, which urged him to send a threatening tweet.
“He better pray to God that I don’t find him!!” Alvarez wrote in Spanish with a series of angry emojis. “Just like I respect Argentina, he has to respect Mexico! I’m not talking about the country as a whole, just about the bulls—t that Messi pulled.”
Canelo’s threats immediately gained traction and drew attention from Argentinian fighters like UFC welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio, saying “you mess with Messi, you with the entire Argentina.”
After seemingly getting a chance to think things through, Alvarez issued his apology on Wednesday in a series of tweets.
Les deseo mucho éxito a ambas selecciones en sus partidos de hoy y aquí seguiremos apoyando a México hasta el final
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) November 30, 2022
“These last few days I got carried away by the passion and love I feel for my country and made comments that were out of place, for which I want to apologize to Messi and the people of Argentina,” Canelo wrote in Spanish.
“Every day we learn something new, and this time it was my turn.
“I wish both teams much success in their matches today, and here we will continue supporting Mexico until the end.”
The 32-year-old Alvarez (58-2-2) is coming off a victory in September in a trilogy against rival Gennady Golovkin.