Marquez: "Canelo will never be the best"

Juan Manuel Marquez
Juan Manuel Marquez

Former four-weight world champion Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico continues his criticism of his compatriot Saul Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs), considered the leader of modern boxing and a contender for the title of the greatest Mexican boxer of all time. Last Saturday, Canelo unified all the super middleweight belts by defeating Caleb Plant, but Marquez remains adamant.

"Canelo will never be the best. He will never be number one unless his opponents fight him on equal footing. Many boxers, including myself, have won championship titles without forcing top athletes to sign weight limits after weigh-ins. There are many boxers who have won championships but have not driven their opponents to exhaustion," Marquez, 48, said.

"Economically, the kind of clauses that were included in the contracts before Canelo's fights with Sergey Kovalev and Daniel Jacobs are very good for Canelo, but as I said, it's unfair to his opponents. "I repeat, it should be on an even playing field," the legendary 'Dynamita' added.

"Canelo is the best boxer in Mexico at the moment. It's not impossible that he is also the best in the history of our country," Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. said in August, the world champion in three weight categories, undefeated from 1980-1994 and considered by many as number one in the history of Mexican boxing.