Via Dan Ambrose: Shawn Porter said he was surprised to learn that Canelo Alvarez had decided he didn’t want to fight any Mexicans.
Porter says he understands where Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) comes from because he feels conflicted about fighting his friend Terence Crawford.
In the end, Porter chose the fight anyway because he realized that Crawford was the best, and he wanted to compete with the top guys.
Porter thinks it is possible that Canelo will change his mind about not wanting to fight the Mexicans. There are too many great battles for Canelo against Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez and David Benavidez with only two.
If Canelo chooses not to change his mind, it could work in his favor as he will be up against it in the face of Benavidez and Zurdo.
Those will be tough matches for Canelo at any point in his career, but they will be especially tough when he’s 32 and about to lose to Dmitry Bivol.
“Once upon a time, Terence and I said we would never fight,” Shawn Porter said Fighthypereacted to Canelo Alvarez saying he would not fight the Mexicans.
“It’s something that has taken time and things have changed and evolved. Today, that’s how Canelo.
“I was surprised to hear that from you, but quickly, I reminded myself, ‘You’ve been in that position, too.’ Maybe everything will change, but otherwise, I would have been in that position, and I understand that. I respect it.
“You guys may not like it, but it’s what it is. It comes from a place of respect. I will tell myself. For me, it comes from a place where I know Terence and feel like, ‘That’s my guy, and I just don’t want to have to go into the ring and hit my guy.’
“For me, it has become a thing that my guy is the best guy out there, so I have to fight the best guy. I really did. I put all feelings aside because I didn’t want to hit him, didn’t want to prepare him, and didn’t want to see him as an enemy or anything like that.
“I don’t know if that’s something Canelo can do. To some extent, I think it’s interesting that he says, ‘That’s my countryman. I won’t fight him. ‘ We’ll see what happens.
“There comes a point where I say, ‘I want to fight you,’ and Terence says, ‘Hey, man, Nah. What are we talking about?’ ‘You it.’ So those two, Zurdo and Benavidez both said, ‘Hey, don’t forget.’ This is a fighting game. We are here to achieve the best,” Porter said.
