Canelo Alvarez has joined Mexico president Claudia Sheinbaum in endorsing sport for positive change.
Canelo attended Sheinbaum’s news conference on Friday to endorse sport, particularly boxing, as a means to create positive change among young people.
The reigning WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight champion described how he had seen boxing change the lives of many people for the better.
This follows a Guinness world record set by Sheinbaum’s leadership as head of government of Mexico City.
They set a record for the largest-ever boxing lesson, which involved 14,299 participants in June 2022.
Thousands of people gathered in Mexico City’s Zocalo plaza for the class led by current and former Mexican boxing greats, including Andy Ruiz Jr. and Erik Morales.
The feat surpassed a previous 2017 record set in Moscow, Russia, by 3,000 boxing enthusiasts.
Sheinbaum also revealed plans to hold big boxing classes throughout Mexico on April 6, 2025, to coincide with the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.
Canelo admitted this month that he would be open to fighting Jake Paul but only when his pro career is said and done.
Paul battled boxing icon Mike Tyson in front of 70,000 fans and live on Netflix earlier this month in what proved to be a disappointing affair where the latter landed just 18 punches.
Paul called out Canelo after defeating the 58-year-old and has the Mexican superstar at the top of his hit list.
Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s manager, recently joined talkSPORT Fight Night and hyped up the potential clash between Paul and Canelo.
However, talkSPORT presenter Adam Catterall didn’t believe that the huge crossover bout would get sanctioned.
“[Nevada] did Mayweather and McGregor, so why would they not do Canelo vs Jake Paul?” Bidarian responded to Catterall’s stance.
“What were the stipulations when one of the greatest boxers of all time fought Conor McGregor in Nevada on the world stage?
“Why did they sanction Conor McGregor, a UFC fighter who has much less boxing experience than Jake Paul, to fight Floyd Mayweather, a 49-0 undefeated fighter?
“They fought in 10oz gloves, it was a straight-up professional fight and still to this day the most successful professional fight outside of Paul-Tyson.
“I see no reason why Jake Paul vs Canelo Alvarez shouldn’t take place.”
If Paul and Canelo were to fight they would likely share the ring at cruiserweight.
Canelo previously spoke about moving up to 200lbs in 2022 to face former WBC world champion Illunga Makabu but the fight never developed.
