Canelo Alvarez surprised the spot of boxing when it was announced he would take on fellow Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez in a fight contested at a 164.5-pound catchweight, a weight so far above what he's accustomed to fighting at.
The current light middleweight champion has fought at most at 155 pounds. Canelo explained his reasoning for taking the fight against Chavez in a teleconference.
"I think what convinced me to make the move was the fight itself, which is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in the history of Mexico," Alvarez said. "That’s what intrigued me. The significance of the fight is what convinced me to make the move."
Aside from being a part of arguably the biggest All-Mexican boxing fight in the country's proud history, Canelo is not a fan of Chavez and wants to prove who the better boxer is.
"Plenty of rivalry," Alvarez said. "He talks too much about me. He’s talked bad about me and criticized me so many times. I will prove to him in the ring who’s the better man.He talks too much about me. He's talked bad about me and criticized me so many times. I will prove to him in the ring who's the better man."
The fight, reported by ESPN, will be contested on May 6 during Cinco De Mayo weekend, which is a major date for booking big boxing matches involving the country's best boxers. It will be broadcast on HBO pay-per-view and covered here on Fightful.com.
