By Ben Jacobs
Although Colombia has produced many well-known boxers in recent years, the South American country doesn’t breathe boxing in the way Mexico or Puerto Rico does. Most fighters to have achieved success have had to travel to the United States or Europe in order to make good money from the sport as well as win titles. Eleider Álvarez is no exception to this rule. The 31-year-old had a decorated amateur career but moved to Quebec, Canada to give himself a better chance in the pro ranks. Unbeaten with 18 wins and 10 knockouts to his name, ‘Storm’ is closing in on a world title shot with WBC champion Adonis Stevenson, provided he gets past Isaac Chilemba on November 28.
“I can’t say boxing is big in Colombia because it’s not like that,” conceded Álvarez, speaking to BoxingScene.com.
“There’s a website that follows us called BoxeodeColombia, and one other one, but I can’t say the press in Colombia takes notice of us like they do here in Canada.
“I’m not Canadian and yet people watch out for me. In Colombia it’s all about football (soccer). It doesn’t bother me but, I know that when I become world champion the big channels will come looking to interview me. I won’t give them an interview because they didn’t speak to me before!
“If I were Mexican or Canadian I’d be much bigger. In Colombia, football is the national sport. For a sportsman who isn’t a footballer you have to do something huge to get noticed and that’s why I need to be a world champion. I’ve been a professional for five years and I still haven’t had the support of Colombian television, but it doesn’t bother me.”
Álvarez revealed that he has been training for his world title eliminator with Chilemba for nearly nine weeks although he remains in training year round to stay in good physical condition. Following a period of time in which he was injured, Eleider feels he is returning to his best form.
“I won my last fight against an unbeaten fighter who had a lot of knockouts, many of which came early on. I also beat a Ukrainian after I had been out a few months because of the surgery I had. I had been fighting injured for about five fights but thankfully things are good now.
“I’ve seen Chilemba’s fights against Tony Bellew, I see his pros and cons,” he continued.
“I’m going in there to look for my type of fight, not the way he wants it, with his style. I’m also a very technical boxer as he is.”
The consensus best fighter at light heavyweight, besides Stevenson, is Sergey Kovalev. Álvarez is of the opinion that 175lbs is the sport’s toughest division at the moment.
“I can’t say that Kovalev is the best in the weight class because I’m also there! But this weight class is the strongest in boxing at the moment. If you look at the rankings, all the top ten boxers are quality, anyone can beat anyone. Andre Ward is also now coming up. I feel proud to be in this weight class and I feel I’m one of the best there.”
