Superstar Canelo Alvarez, one of only a few Mexican fighters to have captured world titles at four different weight classes, is perhaps looking at taking another challenge: that of an MMA fighter facing him in the boxing ring. As has been reported by a number of MMA websites, Jorge Masvidal, a welterweight in MMA, has called out Canelo (among other big-name boxers), and Canelo is reported to have said ‘why not?’ to the fight.
Of course it’s nothing new for an MMA star to make the crossover to the boxing ring, or the other way around, but haven’t fans grown tired of crossover fights now? We saw the big one a couple of years ago, between Floyd Mayeather and Conor McGregor, and after all the hype, the fight was a sure win for master boxer Mayweather. Do we really want to see Canelo, a fine fighter who has more than enough challenges out there for him in the boxing ring, devote months of his precious prime years training for and then competing in a fight with an MMA fighter?
We already know the winner if this match-up does take place, right? Now if Canelo agreed to fight Masvidal in The Cage, well, that’s a whole different story. But in his own field, the boxer beats the MMA guy, and the other way around. There have been excpetions, like when heavyweight warhorse Ray Mercer took on an also past his best Tim Sylvia in an MMA bout around ten years ago, with “Merciless” whacking out Slyvia with those small gloves on. But generally, when a boxer fights an MMA master under MMA rules, he loses (look at James Toney against Randy Couture).
Some fans continue to argue over which sport is tougher, which fighters are tougher, but the days when crossover fights were genuinely fascinating and exciting have passed. Canelo has plenty of other, far more meaningful fights to get on with.
Who we want to see Canelo fight in 2020:
- Gennady Golovkin in a third fight.
- One of the current super-middleweight champions.
- Floyd Mayweather in a rematch (fat chance, but Canelo still harbors a desire to get revenge over the only man to have beaten him).
- Demetrius Andrade
- Jermall Charlo
In fact, anyone other than Jorge Masvidal. Or maybe you feel differently, and want to see Canelo mix it up with an MMA warrior in the boxing ring?