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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HOUSTON – JULY 27: WBC Super Welterweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez (R) and manager Jose ‘Chepo’ Reynoso talk during a press conference to announce the WBC Super Welterweight World Championship bout July 27, 2011 in Houston, Texas. The bout, which is part of the Mayweather vs. Ortiz event, will be held on September 17, 2011 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

8. Canelo’s amateur record was 44-2

Normally, publicized amateur records should be taken with a grain of salt. There’s usually never a record of every fight someone took before turning pro, and more often than not, it’s inflated to make someone look better. Most sources have Canelo’s amateur record at 44-2, but BoxRec states he’s only had 20 amateur contests.

But just like his early professional days, Canelo was often matched up against people that were much older than him. He also sparred with Oscar Larios at the age of 14. His most notable amateur competition was the Junior Mexican National championships. He earned a silver medal in 2004, then came back and won it a year later.

There’s no set-in-stone record of Canelo’s amateur background. But regardless of what it actually is, he amassed a ton of wins in a short amount of time. He got into boxing after watching his three brothers fight, but they all made their pro debuts in their mid-to-late 20s, while Canelo started much earlier. However, he had to because he ran out of people who were willing to fight him.

Even though it took him a long time to get out of the local circuit and become a household name, it’s clear that he found a winning formula early on with the Reynosos.

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