Canelo Alvarez has faced off with some legendary opponents but there is one that got away from him.
While Alvarez may have turned down a fight with Terence Crawford in the past, the two men are set to lock horns later this month at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Both men are certainly no strangers to competing under the brightest lights with the eyes of the world on them.
While Alvarez would face the likes of Floyd Mayweather, who Crawford believes is the greatest of all time, there is one huge name that he hasn’t had the opportunity to face even though their paths appeared to be aligning at one stage.
Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty ImagesCanelo Alvarez was lined up to face Manny Pacquiao in his first world title fight
Heading into 2011, Canelo Alvarez was starting to target some of the elite fighters that were around him in the light middleweight division.
He had successfully defended the WBC Silver belt on two occasions, making him the mandatory challenger for the winner of an upcoming vacant title fight.
The prior November saw Manny Pacquiao earn a world title in his eighth weight class after he convincingly beat Antonio Margarito over 12 rounds.
This now meant that the next fight for the WBC light middleweight title would see Alvarez challenge Pacquiao for the belt in a huge clash, even though the Mexican star hadn’t won a world title at that stage.
Unfortunately for the fans, ‘PacMan’ made it clear in a letter to the governing body that he had no intentions of putting his belt on the line, choosing to jump between weight classes again.
As a result, Alvarez went on to fight for the vacant belt in March of 2011 where he dominated England’s Matthew Hatton, the younger brother of Ricky Hatton, to win the title.
Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty ImagesManny Pacquiao gave his prediction for Canelo Alvarez’s fight with Terence Crawford
Terence Crawford also pursued a fight with Manny Pacquiao for several years, though once again, this dream matchup never materialized.
The Filipino boxing legend did recently reveal his prediction for the upcoming fight between Canelo Alvarez and ‘Bud’, simply revealing who he thinks will take it when speaking to ESNews.
“I think he’ll [Canelo] win this fight.”
There are countless examples of huge boxing matches that got away from the fans but fortunately, Alvarez and Crawford won’t be one of them.