By Edward Chaykovsky

With the retirement of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the career of Manny Pacquiao soon coming to a close, Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (47-1-1, 33KOs) has been labeled by many as the biggest star in boxing.

Canelo returns on September 17th, back to the junior middleweight division, when he challenges WBO world champion Liam Smith at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Canelo was in action back in May, when he knocked out Amir Khan in the sixth round at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

While many view Canelo as the current face of boxing, he doesn't view himself in the same light.

"I don’t see myself as boxing’s biggest star. I still feel like I have a lot to accomplish and every step of the way to get to where I am at my career has taken a lot of hard work. I am trying to build my legacy in the history books doing what I love to do and am very flattered that people hold me at a high esteem. I only hope to keep giving the people exciting fights, they are my motivation to continue fighting," Canelo told Seen Sport Magazine.

"Again very flattered that people hold me to high esteem, but I love boxing, it’s my passion; and delivering a great performance for all my fans and providing for my family are the big motivators in my career. I only hope to continue to perform at a high level and give fight fans great fights."

The biggest fight in the sport is a clash between Canelo and WBA/IBO/WBC/IBF middleweight world champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs).  The two have a verbal agreement to fight each other in September of 2017.

Canelo has been asked, many times, if he pushed off the fight to next fall in order to better prepare himself for the match. He says Golovkin is the one who needs to prepare.

"He's the one who's pursing a fight against me, and not the other way around. People say that I have to prepare myself to face him. I have to make one thing clear. I'm not the one who has to get ready for him. He is the one who needs to be ready for me," Canelo said.