LAS VEGAS — A couple of years ago, while covering Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez’s return to Guadalajara, I visited the gym where he began a brilliant two-decade career that made him the undisputed super middleweight champion and champion in four different divisions.
There, Chepo Reynoso, the trainer who took him in at age 14, spoke to me about the inevitable expiration date of a boxer when I asked him how much longer we would have Álvarez as a professional fighter.
Reynoso reminded me that Álvarez has been boxing since he was a child and that he was already a professional at 15. Because of his discipline and competitiveness, Álvarez became a multiple world champion and the Mexican athlete who has earned more money than any other boxer from his country. But all that effort eventually takes its toll.
“When he sees that his body is no longer responding, even though he works hard and takes care of himself, it will be time to say goodbye. Your body tells you, ‘Stop, I can’t do this anymore,’” Reynoso, now 72, told me. He accompanied Álvarez in his painful loss to Terence Crawford Saturday in Las Vegas.
During the same trip, I visited Rigoberto Álvarez, Canelo’s older brother, who also reminded me that his younger brother had been fighting his whole life and turned professional at 15 because he was already a father and had to support his daughter. Rigoberto then recounted a conversation he had with Canelo in 2023: “He told me himself that he saw himself fighting for a couple more years, but he didn’t want to retire due to wear and tear. He wanted time for his children and his family,” Rigoberto said in 2023.
On Saturday in Las Vegas, the signs those in Álvarez’s corner warned about came to fruition. Against Crawford, Álvarez lost all his super middleweight titles in a fight in which he was vastly outclassed.
He left the post-fight news conference without his belts, a first in the last seven years, as when he lost to Dmitry Byvol in the light heavyweight division in 2022, he was still the super middleweight champion.
This time, he left accompanied by his wife, daughter and trainer Eddy Reynoso. But it was also striking that he left with the serenity of someone who has made peace with the passage of time.
During the past few years, Canelo has been the face of boxing: He was considered the best pound-for-pound fighter after his victory over Gennady Golovkin in their second fight in 2022, the star of million-dollar fights and the undisputed king of pay-per-view. But on Saturday, he looked like a tired, old cowboy — slow and unimaginative, with worn-out reflexes and a body that no longer responds.
“There are times when you try, but your body says it can’t,” Álvarez said in English. “I tried to figure Crawford out, but my body wasn’t giving it anymore.”
He accepted the defeat calmly. While Crawford, at 37, gave him a boxing lesson in a packed Allegiant Stadium, Alvarez seemed resigned to his fate.
The loss reopens old criticism about the legitimacy of Álvarez’s victories and quality of his opponents. Not even the more than $100 million he reportedly earned Saturday night will erase the feeling that a cycle has come to an end.
His immediate future is unclear. He has a contract signed with Arab promoter Turki Alalshikh to fight twice in 2026. Álvarez had previously spoken of a tour of Europe and Asia, but without his belts, he will no longer be the same global attraction.
Attractive rivals are also few and far between. David Benavidez awaits him at 175 pounds, although Canelo has always considered him too big physically for him. And if the path leads to exhibitions with fighters such as Jake Paul or Conor McGregor, physical wear and tear and lack of necessity could steer him away.
Today, Álvarez speaks more about his family, especially spending time with his newborn daughter.
“I’ve already won because I have my family with me and millions of fans who have never stopped supporting me,” he wrote on Instagram on Sunday after the loss.
The man who was once unstoppable is resting. His legacy, with a guaranteed place in the Boxing Hall of Fame, is already written. What seems to have ended is Álvarez’s era as a dominant champion, because in boxing, beyond glory and money, the ultimate opponent is always time.
This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.
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