UFC Welterweight Champ Kamaru Usman isn’t losing hope on a Canelo Alvarez fight, despite UFC president Dana White recently playing it down.
Usman capped off his rivalry with welterweight contender Colby Covington by beating him at UFC 268 in a unanimous decision victory. Covington had his moments during the fight, but Usman was able to limit the damage and sustain his output throughout five back-and-forth rounds.
After the win, reporters asked UFC president Dana White about Usman’s comments about a potential boxing match with Alvarez. White helped cross-promote the infamous Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing match in 2017.
However, White shut down the notion that an Alvarez boxing match could be in Usman’s future, stating that Usman doesn’t really want any part of Canelo. When told about White’s remarks, here is how Usman responded.
“Dana doesn’t know. Like I said, I want something that scares me,” Usman said during the UFC 268 post-fight presser. “If I’m gonna leave my daughter for another 12 weeks or more, it’s gotta be something that gets me up. I want to challenge myself. I know a lot of people are gonna talk down, or say a lot of bullshit, or say this, ‘Aw, yeah, you don’t want this. You don’t want that.’ Yeah, don’t get me wrong. He’s a master at what he does.’ I love it, and I respect it, which is why I wanna challenge myself in that way. The last time I was an underdog, we saw what happened.”
“So it is what it is.” Usman continued. “We’re the ones who are willing to go over there and take that risk. They won’t dare come over here and take that risk.”
Usman first hinted at a potential boxing match with Alvarez during the buildup to UFC 268, and more specifically his recent interview with ESPN’s Max Kellerman. Usman and Alvarez went head-to-head with their pay-per-views beginning and ending at roughly the same time.
Despite his impressive win over Covington, Usman wasn’t worried about beating Alvarez to the punch by getting a finish before he did.
“Does it bother me? No, because I didn’t know he got the finish,” Usman said. “If I knew he got the finish beforehand, then shit, I would’ve got that finish, too! It’s about being calculated and technical, and I did that tonight.”
Usman is thought by many fans to be one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time and is in the conversation for the greatest welterweight of all time alongside former champion Georges St-Pierre.
Usman doesn’t have any boxing fights on his record, but that could change for a money fight with Alvarez, in a showdown of two of the best combat sports athletes in the world.
Do you think we’ll ever see a Kamaru Usman vs. Canelo Alvarez fight?
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Dana White is not interested in seeing Kamaru Usman box Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. On Saturday, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ defended his welterweight strap with a hard-fought decision win over Colby Covington in the UFC 268 main event. A little earlier, Canelo scored an 11th round TKO win over Caleb Plant to become the undisputed champion at […]