Press conference host Max Kellerman praised Dana White for his proposed boxing plan – but Canelo Alvarez took offence to the remarks
Canelo Alvarez stepped in to defend the sport of boxing after Dana White was proclaimed as its saviour.
Alvarez will take on Terence Crawford in Las Vegas this weekend in a fight promoted by UFC CEO White who has been hailed to turning the MMA promotion into a sporting powerhouse.
White intends to launch his promotion next year which will see up-and-coming fighters attempt to climb the ladder and land bigger fights – as he has done with his Contender Series in UFC.
But as Alvarez and Crawford took part in a press conference on Thursday, the Mexican took offence to host Max Kellerman suggesting White will take boxing to another level.
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“Dana White is the greatest combat sports promoter in my lifetime,” Kellerman said. “He built an institution. You know why boxing ’s not as popular as it used to be anymore, right? UFC is really popular. That’s because of Dana White.
He built something like the NBA. He’s about to do it for boxing again, for boxing now. You want an NBA or an NFL in boxing? Here it comes. Because he knows how to build an institution. And how do you do that?…”
At this point Alvarez interrupted, arguing: “Hey, Max… Boxing is always bigger and bigger and big. Don’t say boxing is not big enough. Boxing is big. You know how big is boxing…” Kellerman tried again, asking: “Should it get bigger, yes or no? Should it get bigger, Canelo?”
Alvarez responded: “Maybe it’s going to be bigger, but look, boxing is always big and big and bigger and bigger and bigger. We need to talk about that too. How big is boxing? Boxing is boxing.” At this point, Crawford chimed in to say: “No lies”, before Alvarez concluded: “There is no comparison. Respect for other sports, great job on everything, but boxing is boxing.”
Earlier in the night, Crawford vowed to prove why he is the biggest star in boxing. “I think people are underestimating everything about me,” he said. “From what everybody says, I haven’t fought anybody. It’s been a long time coming, it’s been long overdue and come Saturday, I’m going to show the world what they’ve been missing out on.”
Alvarez added: “This fight for me is one of the biggest fights in my career. After nearly four years without a knockout win, Alvarez said he is looking for a decisive victory. I’ll give it everything I have, and if the knockout comes, good. If not, I’m going to show why I’m the best.”