"I always try to hurt them more" - 3 times Canelo Alvarez punished disrespectful opponents
Tensions between Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant ahead of their scheduled super-middleweight unification bout are soaring high. We have even witnessed a much more agitated version of Alvarez going into the fight than we have in recent years.
While speaking to ESPN recently, Canelo opened up about the bad blood between him and Caleb Plant. He also suggested that he plans on punishing Caleb Plant for the same:
"Yes, this is personal from what happened in LA. At the end of the day I'm gonna go in the ring and do my job. I always try to hurt them more [if I don't like them]."
Watch Canelo's full interview with ESPN below:
Canelo Alvarez does not forget about the things said in the build-ups to his fights. He takes account of each and everything and goes out of his way to make his opponents pay in the ring.
Although Caleb Plant is next on the hit list, Canelo Alvarez has punished several disrespectful opponents in the past as well. Let's take a look at three times Alvarez has made his disrespectful opponents pay.
#3. Liam Smith vs. Canelo Alvarez
Canelo Alvarez faced Liam Smith back in 2016 and the build-up to the fight was rather sour for the Mexican. Heading into the fight, Liam Smith had some words for Alvarez which did not sit well with him.
Liam Smith went on to call Canelo childish on multiple occasions and claimed that he saw weakness in his opponent. Canelo Alvarez remained calm and made Smith pay for his trash talk in the ring. He dropped Liam Smith three times before knocking him out in the ninth round.
En este d铆a de 2016, Canelo lanz贸 este golpe al cuerpo a Liam Smith 馃槻
On this day in 2016, Canelo threw this body shot at Liam Smith 馃挜
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An utterly dominant performance by Canelo saw him win the WBO junior middleweight championship in front of 50,000+ fans. Smith was humbled by Canelo, however, he later went on to claim that Alvarez didn't hit as hard as he would've expected.
#2. GGG vs. Canelo Alvarez II
Ahead of their highly anticipated rematch in 2018, the back and forth between the two fighters reached a different level. Gennady Golovkin called Canelo a 'fake fighter' as he and his team further disdained the Mexican in public.
Coming from a draw in their first fight, both fighters promised a knockout in the rematch. When the two finally went head-to-head in the ring, it was all business. Canelo Alvarez had his foot on the gas throughout the match and brought the fight to Golovkin.
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Despite winning the match by a unanimous decision and not the knockout that he promised, Canelo Alvarez made a dominant statement that he wasn't here to be messed around with.
#1. Billy Joe Saunders vs. Canelo Alvarez
Canelo Alvarez's latest victim, Billy Joe Saunders, was on the receiving end of a beatdown when the two clashed back in May this year. Going into the fight, Saunders ran down Canelo with his words and tried his level best to get under the skin of the P4P king.
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When the bright lights went on and the two finally faced each other, Canelo responded to everything Billy Joe Saunders had said with his fists. Canelo Alvarez picked his moments in the fight and punished Saunders with his lethal power shots. The end result? Canelo broke Saunders' orbital bone, forcing his team to throw in the towel.