By Miguel Rivera
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) explained this rivalry with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs) is 100% legitimate.
The two Mexican superstars are scheduled to collide on Cinco De Mayo weekend, May 6th.
Their bout, which takes place at the catch-weight of 164.5-pounds, will headline an HBO Pay-Per-View card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
To make this fight happen, Canelo agreed to come up from the junior middleweight limit of 154-pounds, and Chavez Jr. is dropping down from the super middleweight max of 168-pounds.
Their rivalry has been brewing for many years. At one point Chavez Jr. was on the top of the world when he was the WBC middleweight champion, but his issues with training camp and taking the sport seriously was what led to his decline. While Chavez Jr. was declining, Canelo continued to build his way up to being the biggest pay-per-view star in the sport.
Chavez Jr. is backing to taking his career serious. He is now trained by Hall of Fame coach Nacho Beristain, and Chavez also hired conditioning coach Angel "Memo" Heredia.
Canelo detailed that unlike other contests in his career, the high level of dislike between him and Chavez Jr. is real. He blames Chavez Jr. for their rivalry, stating that he always made negative comments about him but never made any of those comments in his face. Canelo says he looks forward to settling their feud in the ring.
"[Our rivalry exists] because of the many things that he says. There are so many things that he says, they are stupid, they are stupid things, and he never tells you these things when he's in front of you. When he is in front of you he doesn't say anything to you. But right now he's my opponent and this is what bothers me," said Canelo to Box Azteca.
