I've fought Floyd Mayweather, Gennady Golovkin and Miguel Cotto but none of them hit harder than rival I brutally KO'd

08/06/2024 09:03 AM

Canelo Alvarez has fought some elite boxing names, but a southpaw with a 90 per cent KO ratio hit him hardest.

Alvarez is one of boxing’s current pound-for-pound leading fighters, who has had a remarkable career which has seen him hold world titles in four weight classes.

The Mexican has shared the ring with some of the sport’s modern era greats such as Mayweather, Cotto and most recently bitter rival Golovkin.

But he has revealed in a new interview, that American veteran James Kirkland hit him with the most power he has felt in their 2015 thriller.

He told Sways Universe: “I think the most power I have felt is from James Kirkland.

“He hit me in the arms and that is the hardest thing I have felt. If he hit me in the head he’d have f*****g….

“So I said ‘I need to get this over early’ and then I knocked him out. He is a great fighter.”

Alvarez took on Kirkland in a middleweight clash with no titles on the line, but it became one of his most iconic appearances in the ring.

The fight began at a ferocious pace, with the American coming to take out the prodigy from the opening bell.

But he found himself touching the canvas within the opening three minutes, as Alvarez pushed forward.

He managed to cling on and survive beating the count, but the breakthrough came in the third period.

Having been sent stumbling to the ropes early on, he felt the crushing power for a second time as the Mexican landing a thumping right uppercut.

Kirkland quickly touched the canvas but clambered back to his feet.

The fight didn’t last much longer as Alvarez ferociously walked down his opponent and detonated a bone-crushing right hook.

Kirkland this time was left on the floor on his back unconscious and the referee quickly waved off the fight.

It won the ‘KO of the Year’ award and gave the superstar one for his highlight reel, and quickly became a fan-favourite event.

Kirkland did earn the power praise of Alvarez however, despite facing some formidable opponents during his time.

Mexican legend Cotto came up against his domestic counterpart in his next fight, a clash in which Alvarez clinched the WBC middleweight title with a unanimous decision win.

In perhaps the most high-profile clash of Alvarez’s career, he took on 50-0 legend Mayweather two years prior to his win over Kirkland, which was eagerly anticipated.

Unfortunately it was to be the first defeat of his career for Alvarez, who was outboxed by the hugely talented ‘Money’, but was by no means disgraced.

Mayweather’s primary attributes did not rely on power, but he did outland Alvarez with a frightening output throughout.

A rival which Alvarez truly struggled against was trilogy foe Gennady Golovkin who he fought first in September 2017.

The pair were controversially judged to have drawn, despite the wider boxing world suggesting Golovkin did more than enough to have his hand raised.

Their rematch a year later in 2018 faced similar controversy, as Alvarez was handed a decision win with many giving Golovkin the nod again.

A third fight came around at the back end of Golovkin’s career in September 2022, where he finally proved doubters wrong by comfortably getting the better of the Kazakh star.

Alvarez reigned as the undisputed champion at super-middleweight in the present day, but has been forced to vacate his IBF belt.

He will next step in the ring to defend his titles against Edgar Berlanga in September.

A mega-fight with Terence Crawford seemed to be inevitable, but that has since gone up in flames with Saudi Arabia revoking their interest in staging the clash.