When did Canelo Alvarez start boxing?
Canelo Alvarez is one of the most highly decorated boxers and is widely regarded as the best super-middleweight on the planet. The Mexican superstar first laced a pair of gloves at the mere age of 13.
He quickly rose through the amateur ranks and claimed a silver medal in the Junior Mexican National Championships in 2004. He later became the 2005 Junior Mexican National Boxing Champion. Amassing an amateur record of 44 wins and 2 losses, it seemed as though Canelo Alvarez was ready to take the next step.
Unable to find worthy amateur opponents for Canelo, his trainers Chepo and Eddy Reynoso felt it was time for Alvarez to box professionally. Canelo turned professional at 15.
A brief history of Canelo Alvarez's rise to the top
The Mexican native steamrolled his way through his first 13 opponents, most of them significantly more experienced than Canelo. This catapulted him into even greater recognition, earning him a much-revered spot on the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Shane Mosley undercard. Here, Canelo beat four-time Puerto Rican regional-level champion Jose Cotto by TKO in the ninth round.
On the 11th of February 2012, it was announced that Canelo would face Shane Mosley for the WBC light middleweight title. Alvarez secured a unanimous decision win after twelve rounds. Canelo Alvarez would then beat Josesito Lopez and Austin Trout before facing his biggest test yet, against the five-division world champion, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
On the 14th of September 2013, Canelo Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather Jr. faced off with their respective belts on the line with 16,746 fans spectating. Canelo was not ready for this level of skill and competition yet. Losing to Mayweather in a majority decision outcome, Alvarez ensured he would never lose again in the boxing ring.
Canelo is currently on a six-fight win streak, beating some of the biggest names in the business like Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs. His controversial move to light-heavyweight also proved to be a successful venture after he knocked out Sergey Kovalev in November 2019.
Starting in 2021, Canelo launched the campaign to unify the super middleweight titles. He defeated the likes of Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, and Caleb Plant to unify the WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, IBF, and The Ring super middleweight titles.
The 33-year-old made an attempt to become the light heavyweight champion again but lost to Dmitry Bivol via unanimous decision in May 2022. He has bounced back from the loss and defeated Gennady Golovkin and John Ryder in recent outings.
Canelo Alvarez will defend the super middleweight strap against unified junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo on September 30. He will most likely face David Benavidez next if Charlo fails to get the job done.