20 little-known facts about Canelo Alvarez

NEW YORK CITY - JUNE 20: Hennessy, the world's best-selling Cognac, presents Lineal and RING Magazine Middleweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez with a custom engraved bottle of Paradis Imperial during the Canelo vs. Golovkin press tour at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Hennessy recently announced its partnership with Canelo who, like Hennessy, has a passion for pushing the limits of potential to Never stop. Never settle. (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images for Hennessy) /

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9. Made his pro boxing debut at 15

As mentioned off the top, Canelo joined the pro circuit at the ripe old age of 15. That’s the reason why he and Mayweather had practically identical records when they squared off even though Canelo was just 23.

It’s unlikely Canelo or the Reynosos would’ve predicted his rise to stardom when he first started. But even if they did, he had to start from humble beginnings. Long before he signed a contract with Golden Boy, Alvarez didn’t stray outside of Mexico and fought in arenas of 6,000 people or less.

His debut fight couldn’t have gone any better. He fought Abraham Gonzalez, a guy who was three years older than him. It was his second fight, but his first contest in 20 months. It had to go the full four rounds, but Alvarez earned the TKO 18 seconds into the fourth. Obviously his technique was still very raw, but it was a great way for Canelo to get his boxing career started. Gonzalez, meanwhile, retired with a 1-9-1 record.

It took a while before Canelo started regularly fighting people with Wikipedia entries, but that’s the case for every boxer. When he was starting out, he often fought guys who were older and more experienced than him.

The difference between winning and losing your debut can make all the difference in the world. And for Canelo, who had three older brothers boxing professionally, he probably felt it was imperative to start his career off on the right foot.

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