Canelo Alvarez’s secret?

Over the decades, the descriptive “Mexican school” in boxing has become synonymous with explosiveness in the ring – a source of pride for the fighter to whom it is ascribed, as he tends to attack without mercy or fear of being hit.

This Saturday, when Canelo Alvarez seeks to unify the super middleweight titles against Billy Joe Saunders in Arlington, Texas, the Guadalajara native will do so with a formula that has helped him climb to the top of the pound-for-pound rankings and rub shoulders with historic Mexican champions: his particular version of the Mexican school, one perhaps more defensive and conservative, but one that has kept him energized and successful 16 years into his career.

After his only pro loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September 2013, Canelo’s knockout percentage has dropped to less than half, or six in 13 wins. Still, with the possible exception of the fights against Gennady Golovkin, it’s hard to argue that Canelo has struggled in that span.

“For me, it’s not the Mexican style to go and take punches and give and get knocked down and get up. I think that’s not it,” Canelo said in an interview with ESPN in April. “The Mexican boxer also knows how to move, hit and not get hit, that’s boxing itself.”

Although the Mexican style has evolved to include boxers of different categories and nationalities, the common terms to describe its exponents remain the same: heart, courage and endurance. These words help to understand what exactly the Mexican style is, and to define whether someone like Alvarez evokes it.

At least one thing is unquestionable: thanks to his success and popularity over the past decade, Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 knockouts) has positioned himself as the top star in boxing today. His two fights against Golovkin generated a total of 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, and the second fight generated at least $94 million in television sales in the United States.

Interestingly, the tug-of-war over how to define the Mexican school of boxing took a turn precisely in those two fights between Canelo and the Kazakh champion. Trainer Abel Sanchez directed Golovkin to emulate the aggressive style of Mexican fighters like Julio Cesar Chavez. Sanchez argued at the time that Golovkin, not Canelo, was the modern example of the school. In his heyday, Chavez, who is recognized as the greatest Mexican boxing legend, would overwhelm his opponents with quick combinations to the body, often taking his fair share of counter-punches.

In 2018, a year after their first fight ended in a draw, Alvarez defeated Golovkin with a controversial decision in the rematch. Golovkin got Canelo to fight less defensively that night (the duel was voted Fight of the Year according to The Ring magazine), but it was Alvarez who came out on top that night. Today, he is boxing’s brightest star.

“Notice, the Mexican style is the counterpuncher, the one who makes his combinations always finishing off with his hooks,” said Eddy Reynoso, Canelo’s trainer. “He’s the technical fighter. I think the Mexican school is one of the most complete because it’s based on his technique to defend and his technique to attack.”

“Those who say that the Mexican school is of clashes, of going forward, that’s not the Mexican school. That is the Mexican race, which always dies on the line.”

Lessons learned
In analyzing his pupil, Reynoso describes Canelo as a world-class fighter, a good counterpuncher who is smart in the ring. A fighter who uses his jab to establish himself, who knows how to dodge punches and use the ropes. He knows when to move forward and when to move back.

All of these characteristics, Reynoso said, come from years of practice and evolution. Canelo has learned from the best Mexican champions, studying videos of fighters like Jose Medel, Gilberto Roman, Jose “Mantequilla” Napoles, and Chavez himself.

“As Mexicans, we are always going to have cloth to cut from because we have a history of more than 150 champions that we can study, and each one has his qualities,” Reynoso said. “There are boxers like Saul who learn fast, and the results show it. That’s why he is very complete.”

Still, the apprenticeship was long. Early in his career, offensive-caliber fights were the norm when watching Canelo. Alvarez came into his fight against Mayweather with 30 knockouts in 43 fights. Quite the opposite of his opponent, who had five knockouts in the last decade.

That night, Canelo played the aggressor, but Mayweather repeatedly prevented him from making contact. The American dominated Canelo, then a young 23-year-old fighter, punching him 115 more times, despite landing 21 fewer attempts than the Mexican.

The loss was undoubtedly a turning point in Alvarez’s career. Since then, in all but one of his 13 fights (Erislandy Lara) Canelo has outscored his opponents in percentage of punches landed, according to some statistics.

“I’ve matured a lot since then,” Canelo said on Hotboxin’, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson’s podcast. “I needed more experience, more maturity. I don’t see that fight as a defeat, but as a lesson. I learned a lot from that fight.”

Before that lesson, in Canelo’s telling, it can be argued that Alvarez’s Mexican style was identical to that of many other exponents, an identity that can be defined with a single word, common in the Mexican lexicon to denote courage and bravery.

“Huevos,” said Roberto Andrade Franco, a writer who has covered Mexican boxing for several publications. “It’s the heart of the champion, the one who figures and literally stands up when the going gets tough.”

Chavez’s rise in the 1980s is the best example of that, and it earned the Sinaloan a following far beyond the Mexican border. His penchant was for scoring thrilling knockouts and dominating the cream of world boxing with a combination of body and head shots. Chavez marked his style as a representative of his country, and in doing so seemed to combine all the separate elements of his background.

From a tactical standpoint, the Mexican style of boxing can perhaps be described as a blend of the aggressive style displayed by a swarming boxer (as Chavez was), and the speed, technique and power required by a mixed style boxer.

“I think there are many styles in Mexican boxing,” Canelo said. “Not necessarily of going to hit and getting hit. Of getting knocked down and getting up.”