Reynoso: Garcia Should Take Canelo Criticism As Compliment, Says Relationship 'Very Good' Between Boxers

Canelo Alvarez made an eyebrow-raising revelation last week when he said stablemate and understudy Ryan Garcia was not seizing the opportunity to build on his superstar potential.

“Look, Ryan has a lot of talent. But to me in my eyes, he’s wasting a lot of time and wasting his talent. I look at him and don’t see him 100 percent dedicated and, to us, that’s a bad signal,” Alvarez told Complex. “We always remind him as a team to come to the gym, to train, and to learn because you need to be in the gym. You’re learning day-by-day, at the very minimum fighting five times a year. When I was beginning my career, I did 15 fights in one year. That’s where I was at the beginning of my career. So definitely he needs to be a little more dedicated.” 

Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) and Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) are both trained by 2019 trainer of the year Eddy Reynoso. Alvarez has been guided by Reynoso for the last 17 years, whereas Garcia has been training with Reynoso for his last five fights dating back to 2018.

Reynoso commented on the situation after Alvarez aired his opinion. 

“First of all, the relationship between Canelo and Ryan Garcia is very good,” Reynoso told Brobible. “Ryan Garcia comes here to box and to train, and Saul corrects on some things that he’s doing wrong, he advises him on his boxing technique, but look when someone criticizes you…and if that person is successful like Saul, who is the best boxer in the world, I would take that as a compliment. Now it depends on how each person takes it individually, but in the end, the only thing Saul said was in response to a question about what he sees in the gym.”

Alvarez and Reynoso are eyeing to make history Saturday night when the Mexican star fights Caleb Plant for undisputed super middleweight champion status on Showtime pay-per-view.

Reynoso outlined the blueprint Alvarez needed to follow -- and perhaps one Garcia should consider mirroring -- in order to get to his status as boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter. 

“The motivation of Saul and what has gotten him to where he is today is that he’s never satisfied with what he has, he always wants more, he always wants to get better, he wants to win more championships he wants to keep growing in his career as a boxer, he always wants to be the best in all aspects, and it’s what’s led him to be successful in his career,” said Reynoso.

“We’ve had to work 17 years to get to this fight. What’s going to happen on Nov. 6 when Saul wins the fight, it’s going to be the biggest thing that’s happened in Mexican boxing because there’s never been a Latin boxer who has ever won the four belts, including the Ring belt. I think it’s going to be historic, it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to accomplish; hopefully, someday, another Mexican or Latino will accomplish it one day. It’s something that’s extremely important for Saul’s career and mine as well.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com