By Miguel Rivera
Hall of Fame legend and pound-for-pound great, Roberto Duran has been making the rounds at the ongoing World Boxing Council Convention in Kiev, Ukraine.
According to Duran, unified middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez is not receiving enough respect from the Mexican public. He believes Canelo is treated like an outsider in Mexico.
"What I do not understand, with the respect to Mexico, is that Canelo's countrymen treat him as if he were from another country. He is from Guadalajara, he is Mexican, and I have noticed, with respect to Mexico, they do not give him the credibility that they should give him. They treat him as if he were a gringo, and he is not gringo but a Mexican. They have to love Canelo more and respect him because he is giving glory to his country, which is the most important thing," Duran said to ESPN Deportes.
Earlier this month, Canelo (50-1-2, 34 KO) secured the biggest win of his pro career with a twelve round majority decision over Gennady Golovkin to capture the WBC, WBA middleweight titles at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
There was some controversy in the aftermath of the highly anticipated rematch. The contest was very close, and the fans of both boxers are still debating over which man deserved the decision.
Duran had no issue with the outcome and saw Canelo as the winner - because the Hall of Famer also scored the contest for the Mexican superstar.
"We as boxers are used to being criticized, you win or lose and they are going to criticize you and you do not pay attention to that. A lot of people saw Canelo win, I saw Canelo win, but for the people [in Mexico] the most important thing is that he won for the Independence and the celebration of beating GGG and taking away his undefeated record," Duran said.
