Canelo Alvarez has hailed Kamaru Usman as a "great" fighter despite his recent KO defeat by Leon Edwards.
Usman was defending his UFC welterweight title in a rematch with Edwards when the British star pulled off a sensational upset, knocking Usman out cold in the final round. The 'Nigerian star had previously claimed he would fight Alvarez in the boxing ring, but those dreams now lie in tatters.
The former UFC champion's manager Ali Abdelaziz had previously claimed that Alvarez had blown the chance to face Usman after he was defeated for the second time in his career. However. with Usman defeated, Alvarez refused to draw the same criticism and knew his rival was winning the fight until the kick landed.
"It happens in our sports," Alvarez said in an interview with FightHype when addressing Usman's recent surprise defeat. "Everybody can lose you just never know. I think he was winning and it was just one point that changed everything but he is still a great fighter."
Usman first called out Alvarez to a potential boxing fight last year after confirming he would explore the possibility of lucrative crossover bouts in a similar way to Conor McGregor's clash with Floyd Mayweather. Initially Alvare z dismissed Usman's call-out as an attempt at a payday grab and elected to focus on his own boxing exploits where he was en-route to becoming undisputed champion.
The Nigerian refused to give up on the clash however and even named a price of $100million to step in the boxing ring and take his chance with Alvarez, who was recognised as pound-for-pound king at that stage. However Alvarez began to entertain talks of Usman, refusing to rule out the clash after he has cemented his legacy in the sport.
Do you think Canelo Alvarez should fight Kamaru Usman in the future? Let us know in the comments section below
With Usman clearly keen on a fight in the near future, he appeared to give up and concede that a fight would not happen after receiving no encouragement. However after his own defeat, this could even rekindle the opportunity of a bout if Usman is able to reclaim his belt and return to the top.
However Usman's conqueror Edwards believes the Nigerian has no chance of beating Alvarez in the boxing ring. “I know I can’t beat Canelo in a boxing match, I’m not deluded,” Edwards said at UFC 278 media day prior to his win. “This guy’s deluded. He cannot beat Canelo. I know it’s a payday for him but boxing-for-boxing, he cannot beat Canelo. MMA? Yeah, he will win. Same, MMA, I beat Canelo. For a pure boxing match in the square, he would probably win.”
