"They will kill me, but I will die for you" - Javier Hernandez vows to defend Sergio Aguero amid Lionel Messi-Canelo Alvarez spat
Mexico striker Javier Hernandez has vowed to defend Sergio Aguero amid the ongoing saga involving Lionel Messi and Canelo Alvarez.
Mexican boxer Alvarez was recently agitated by Messi's actions. The super-middleweight champion interpreted Messi as disrespecting his country's flag and jersey after Argentina's 2-0 win over Mexico at the 2022 World Cup.
The Argentine ace was accused of insulting Mexico after videos of his boot touching an El Tri jersey he had exchanged with a player surfaced.
He vowed to show Messi the consequences of his actions and went on a Twitter rant against the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Alvarez's words didn't sit well with former Argentina star Aguero, who retorted by saying that the Mexican pugilist doesn't know what goes down in a football dressing room.
They were engaged in a back-and-forth and Aguero revealed that Alvarez sent him a foul-mouthed WhatsApp audio. He stated via the Daily Mail:
"He sent me an audio... do you know the s*** he had? When I see "Whatsapp" and read "Canelo, audio message", I said to myself "oh mother!
"He told me: "Damn s***, I liked you, a******". I replied: "Mr. Canelo, it seems to me that you are wrong. You don't know Leo, at no time is he stepping on the Mexico shirt." He said "you're wrong", and he told me to respect his opinion."
After Aguero detailed the incident in a recent chat with Hernandez, the former Manchester United striker vowed to defend the Manchester City legend if Alvarez indeed came looking for him. Chicharito said:
"Kuni, if something happens with Canelo, I am also here to defend you, my strength and my biceps are with you. They will kill me, but I will die for you. I hope the same, that they don't find Canelo. That's what I say, I hope they don't find him."
The heat of the situation has since boiled down as Alvarez took to social media to issue a public apology to Messi. The legendary boxer wrote:
"These last few days I got carried away by the passion and love I feel for my country and made comments that were out of place for which I want to apologize to Messi and the people of Argentina. Every day we learn something new and this time it was my turn. I wish both teams much success in their matches today and here we will continue supporting Mexico until the end."
Estos últimos días me dejé llevar por la pasión y el amor que siento por mi país e hice comentarios que estuvieron fuera de lugar por lo que quiero disculparme con Messi y la gente de Argentina. Todos los días aprendemos algo nuevo y esta vez me tocó a mí.
What's next for Lionel Messi and Canelo Alvarez in their respective careers?
Messi and Argentina progressed to the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup following their 2-0 win over Poland on Wednesday, November 30. La Albiceleste will next face Australia.
Messi has so far scored two goals and provided one assist in three games.
Lionel Messi has 𝙉𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 been eliminated in the group stages of a tournament in his entire career for club & country 🤯 https://t.co/TcNTYD2yeY
Alvarez, meanwhile, is coming off a trilogy win against Gennadiy Golovkin. His next move is not yet official.
However, a rematch against Dmitry Bivol might be on the cards. Bivol handed Canelo his second professional loss earlier this year.