Canelo Alvarez is one of the most prominent boxers to come out of Mexico over the past decade or so. In spite of his well-loved reputation in his home country, however, the current unified super middleweight champion was apparently still a victim of kidnapping some three years ago.
In a recent interview on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Alvarez revealed the shocking details of how he personally negotiated the release of his brother who was kidnapped in 2018:
“Over the phone, I negotiated all the — I negotiated everything for his release,” Canelo told Bensinger in Spanish, via TMZ Sports.
“For three days, I negotiated with those a**holes so they would let him go. Three days!”
To make matters worse, the kidnapping occurred during the build-up to Alvarez's 2018 bout against Rocky Fielding. If you think about it though, the kidnappers probably timed the crime as such assuming that Alvarez would be much more willing to negotiate for his brother's release at that point in time. He also earned quite a purse from that fight so that also probably factored in on the kidnapping.
Being the exceptional fighter that he is, Alvarez still came out on top against Fielding. His brother was released by the kidnappers shortly before the fight, which Alvarez won via a third-round TKO.
Alvarez no longer revealed the details of the negotiations, but he did touch on his theory that Mexican authorities were somehow involved in the kidnapping. According to the 30-year-old, he no longer feels safe in his home country and this is why he decided to leave Mexico.
For what it's worth, Canelo Alvarez also went on to criticize the upcoming Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul exhibition fight in the same interview. According to Alvarez, he firmly believes that this is nothing more than a “stupid” money-making scheme.
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