"It's a payday for both guys" - Kamaru Usman claims he'll be the biggest fight purse of Canelo Alvarez's career
Kamaru Usman believes that Canelo Alvarez will earn the biggest fight purse of his career by fighting him.
Before the welterweight champion showed up at UFC 274 to support his ONX teammates Justin Gaethje and Rose Namajunas, he took some time to address the media. The topic of his campaign to fight boxing champion Canelo Alvarez was brought up once again.
The reigning UFC welterweight champion emphasized the pound-for-pound status of both athletes and his courage to challenge a world-class boxer in his sport:
"You know at the end of the day… You know it is what it is, Canelo is the best pound-for-pound boxer. I am the best pound-for-pound mixed-martial-artist. I’m the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. And so I was courageous enough to want to challenge myself in that way. And he’s not. And the only thing he can say is payday. "
Usman believes that the possibility of earning the biggest fight purse of his career should convince Alvarez to accept the MMA fighter’s challenge:
"Let’s be honest, he fights me it’s the biggest payday of his career. I fight him, probably the biggest payday of my career because it’s something that’s never been done before. So make no mistake about that, yes it’s a payday for both guys. But at the end of the day, I’m courageous enough to step in there and do your sport because you’re not man enough to step over here and do this sport."
Watch Kamaru Usman address Canelo Alvarez at 5:30 of the video below:
Canelo Alvarez tells Kamaru Usman to wait for his turn
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has been campaigning for the fight against Canelo Alvarez for some time now. Most recently, the two combat athletes engaged in a Twitter exchange ignited by Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
The Dominance MMA CEO criticized Canelo’s choice to fight Dmitry Bivol as, in his opinion, it would do nothing to solidify the Mexican’s boxer legacy. He added that he understands why Alvarez avoids fighting his client.
Canelo Alvarez replied to the accusation by simply asking who Abdelaziz was. This led to Usman tweeting that everybody should relax before someone gets hurt. During the exchange, Alvarez replied to Usman to wait for his turn.
As of now, there’s no telling if this potential matchup will come to fruition as Canelo Alvarez still has a lot to do in boxing while Kamaru Usman is scheduled to defend his UFC welterweight title against Leon Edwards.
It's unlikely that Canelo's loss to Bivol will affect the odds of this fight coming together.