Mexican boxer Canelo Álvarez has revealed that he personally negotiated the successful release of his kidnapped brother in 2018 and that he is spending less time in Mexico due to security concerns.
In an interview with United States journalist Graham Bensinger, the unified super middleweight world champion recounted his experience negotiating the release of his brother just days before a fight in New York.
“Over the phone, I negotiated everything for his release,” Álvarez said.
“For three days, I negotiated with those assholes so that they would let him go. And after I negotiated, I was still thinking, imagine if this had been my daughter, my mother, my father. For me, it would have been even more difficult. And on top of that, I had to fight on Saturday and do a thousand interviews and everything, and no one knew anything,” he said.
“… They see me up there and they say, ‘Wow, it’s very easy.’ But nothing is easy in this life. Everything is difficult.”
The boxer, a Jalisco native whose full name is Santos Saúl Álvarez Barragán, said he couldn’t ask the police for help because he suspected they were involved in the kidnapping. He said he was thankful that his brother survived the ordeal because kidnapping victims are often killed.
Álvarez, one of the world’s best paid athletes, told Bensinger during an interview at his Guadalajara mansion that he has his own security concerns in Mexico.
“I have security here because of people who can be greedy, those who steal at stoplights. There’s a lot of insecurity, too much insecurity. This is why I’m not here in Mexico much anymore, because it’s not safe,” he said.
“It’s worse still for me and for my family. … And the government is not concerned about this. They’re concerned about other things,” Álvarez added.
“… I think they [the government] should be more concerned about people’s safety, and I think they should have a very strict law for those who steal, for those who kidnap.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Álvarez also discussed his childhood struggles — including being bullied for having red hair, his recent bout with Covid-19, murder allegations his brother faced in 2012, his 2013 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his disdain for Oscar De La Hoya, whose company, Golden Boy Promotions, formerly represented him.
He also revealed that he plans to open a chain of 90 to 100 gas stations in Mexico to be called Canelo Energy.
Several video clips from the interview were uploaded Wednesday to the In Depth with Graham Bensinger YouTube channel. The full episode, which includes a tour of Álvarez’s mansion, airs on television in the United States on the weekend.
Mexico News Daily
