'No hard feelings' between Canelo Alvarez and Kamaru Usman over crossover super-fight that sadly never came to fruition
22/08/2024 17:31
Only a few years ago, there were some serious conversations about the possibility of then-welterweight king and pound-for-pound best fighter in the UFC, Kamaru Usman, taking on boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez.
Whilst that crossover super-fight sadly never came to pass, the legendary Mexican champion holds "no hard feelings" over the callout as he sat down with the 'Nigerian Nightmare' to promote his upcoming boxing bout with Edgar Berlanga.
Kamaru Usman and Canelo Alvarez discuss once-touted crossover super-fight
The year is 2022, and Kamaru Usman has just defeated long-term rival Colby Covington for the second time; yet as the 'Nigerian Nightmare' reigns supreme over the UFC welterweight division, his attention slowly drifts to the possibility of an enormous crossover boxing fight.
The man in his crosshairs is none other than Canelo Alvarez, with the legendary champion having been embroiled in a rather intense online argument with Usman's manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
"Let's all relax before somebody gets hurt," chimed in Usman to the argument, with Alvarez firing back, "I agree cuz it will not be me", and the UFC champion replying, "In the cage or the ring I'm willing to find out in both… Are you?"
Despite the two going back and forth for a number of weeks on social media, nothing ever came of the online argument, and no plans were ever put in place for the two to settle the score in either the ring or the cage.
Now, two years later, Usman and Alvarez have finally sat down together to settle their differences once and for all – with both men acknowledging that they hold no animosity over the callouts.
"Elephant in the room, let's get it out. Obviously, when I was UFC welterweight champion and you as a champion in boxing, there were some talks about us potentially fighting," stated Usman via the Pound 4 Pound podcast: "First and foremost, I'm a fan of yours and everything you've done in the sport of boxing.
"I think it's important for us to clear the air and have this conversation; we're competitors and you get to a certain point where the paycheck makes it worthwhile cause all the years of work, the paycheck makes it worthwhile.
"And you were in a spot where you were just dominating everybody to where the question was being asked 'Who else can challenge this guy' and at that moment, I threw my hand up like 'Let me at least give him a different look'."
Kamaru Usman couldn't help but offer a smile as he admitted that he hoped there were no hard feelings between the two, with Alvarez quick to recognize that their arguments were merely a manifestation of their competitiveness.
"Nah, no hard feelings. I think this is that beautiful [thing about] sport, you were the best in your sport, I'm the best in my sport and I respect that… We're never going to know [who would've won] because we never made the fight.
"If I went in there with you in an MMA fight, it's going to be different; if you come to my sport, it's going to be different."
Alvarez explained how he understands why Usman was so eager to make such a brazen callout, and that the situation ultimately came down to the two of them sharing a champion mentality toward taking the toughest of challenges.
"I know the mentality of 'I can do it, I can do this' but when you go into the ring, it's very different but in the same way if I go to the octagon I say 'I can do it' but it’s way different," stated Alvarez.
"That's a good mentality because you're looking for a challenge and I love that, and no hard feelings – don't worry my friend."
Canelo Alvarez goes toe-to-toe with UFC 306 in Las Vegas
Whilst Alvarez and Usman never went to war, at least in real life, the superstar boxer will indeed be going to battle with the UFC in just a few weeks' time in Las Vegas.
This is because his next fight against Edgar Berlanga is set to clash with UFC 306, aka UFC Noche, on September 14 – with Alvarez vs Berlanga hosted at the T-Mobile Arena whilst the UFC 306 PPV takes place down the road at The Sphere.
"Canelo's one of those guys that I respect and hey, good on [PBC's Al] Haymon," Dana White told ESPN back in July over the clash: "Haymon snatched that date right away from me.
"The guys at MGM have done nothing but f****** disrespect me and the UFC for 20 years. It is what it is. Here we go."
The conflicting events was also a sore spot for the man headlining UFC 306, Sean O'Malley, who took aim at the Mexican superstar on a previous episode of the Timbo Suga Show podcast.
"Headlining at The Sphere is f***ing incredible, but we've got competition. Canelo, T-Mobile, same night… Fighting the same night, which is good competition, but UFC put so much money and so much work into The Sphere.
"But friendly competition against Canelo, Dana was not happy about that I saw he was like 'these motherf****** have been f****** with me,' So we just need to make it big, I need everybody behind me."
Both shows are set to go down in Las Vegas on September 14 – hopefully, the schedule clash doesn't result in Alvarez being forced to wait out the UFC main event like in November 2019.
