Canelo Alvarez has revealed the true reason behind his shocking loss to Terence Crawford last September, stating that his mental preparation was to blame.
The Mexican boxing legend spoke candidly on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show" this week, admitting that he was not mentally focused on the task at hand during the fight week. Alvarez emphasized that his physical ability was not the issue, but rather his mind was elsewhere. "I feel like I wasn't there, [I was] thinking about other things," he said.
A lot was going on in the fight week, Alvarez explained, which led to him going "out of bases" and not being fully focused on the fight. He stated that he did everything right in training camp, but his mind wasn't in the right place. "You can be physically ready, but if your mind is not there, it's not the same," Alvarez said.
Crawford's impressive performance in the fight was not a surprise to Alvarez, who had always known the American was a good fighter. "I never doubted how good he is," Alvarez said, acknowledging Crawford's intelligence and skill. Despite Crawford's impressive showing, Alvarez still holds out hope for a rematch, which was put on hold when Crawford announced his shocking retirement from boxing last December.
Alvarez's loss to Crawford left many in the boxing world stunned, and the Mexican boxer is still feeling the effects of the defeat. Despite not having a rematch clause in place, Alvarez still hopes that Crawford will come out of retirement and agree to a second fight. "Yeah, I'm surprised [he announced his retirement] because as a fighter, we want a rematch, right? We want to show again," Alvarez said.
For now, Alvarez's focus is on his upcoming fight against WBC super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli, which is set to take place on October 31 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Mexican boxer is eager to get back in the ring and prove himself against a tough opponent. "I [still] hope the rematch can [happen]," Alvarez said, but for now, he's moving forward with his career.
Source: Yahoo Sports