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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GOMEZ PALACIO, MEXICO – JANUARY 16 : Marco Antonio Rubio and Rigoberto Alvarez during their CMB Latinamerican Championship title at Gomez Palacio on January 16, 2010 in Gomez Palacio, Mexico. (Photo: Armando Marin/Jam Media/Latin Content/Getty Images) /

2. He’s the youngest of seven brothers, all of whom have boxed professionally

The Alvarez family prides itself on prize-fighting. They’ve been that way since before Canelo came into the world. He has eight siblings, seven of whom are brothers. All of them have boxed professionally, but Canelo – the youngest of the bunch – just so happened to be the most famous.

While some of them never made it past their debuts, Rigoberto, Ricardo and Ramon Alvarez all boast over 30 professional wins to their name. The eldest Rigoberto has also won a WBA title, while Ramon is still fighting. In fact, he’s got a scheduled bout against Johnny Navarrette on September 9 – though if you ask me, not having him on the Canelo-GGG undercard was a missed opportunity.

When speaking to The Sun before the Chavez Jr. fight, Rigoberto claimed he saw Canelo’s star power from an early age:

"I helped [Canelo] and another kid, who was a bit bigger, put the gloves on. In that moment, I had no idea what I was about to see. He was 11 years old and a kid of that age shouldn’t be able to punch like that. “God this is a great gift you’ve given us,” I remember saying."

As they say, the rest is history.

Come September 16, you’ll be sure to find the Alvarez family cheering on their little brother at ringside. Perhaps it’s that camaraderie that could be enough to push him over the top against GGG.

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