Julio Cesar Chavez during a press conference on Wednesday May 14, 2025. IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Julio Cesar Chavez Gets Brutally Honest About Canelo Alvarez’s Decline

Originally posted on KO on SI | By Grant Young | Last updated Nov 11, 2025 4:00 PM ET

It's no secret that Canelo Alvarez didn't produce his best performance against Terence Crawford on September 13, 2025, which resulted in Canelo suffering the third loss of his iconic professional career and losing his undisputed super middleweight belts.

It's also no secret that this is just the most recent of a string of unsatisfactory performances in the eyes of boxing critics. While Canelo had been riding a five-fight winning streak that spanned nearly three years, many of these fights (including his unanimous decision win against William Scull in May 2025, his win over Edgar Berlanga in September 2024, and his snooze-fest against Jermell Charlo in September 2023) were considered sub-par showings from the Mexican legend.

He also hasn't won via knockout since his November 2021 win over Caleb Plant, which is when many believe was the final fight of Canelo's prime. All of these point to concerning trends for Canelo, especially because he's now 35 years old and is going to be sidelined for a while as he recovers from elbow surgery.

IMAGO / Hoganphotos

If there's one thing that can't be said about Canelo's boxing career, it's that he didn't know how to make money. Canelo is expected to be the highest-paid athlete in the world in 2025 after his fights against Crawford and Scull, as he reportedly earned at least $100 million each for those bouts.

Boxing Legend Julio César Chávez Delivers Harsh Reality Check for Canelo Alvarez

However, there's a case to be made that this money and success have only contributed to Canelo's decline. Mexican boxing legend Julio César Chávez (who was a multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions and finished his career with a 107-6-2 record with 86 KOs) seemed to make this case during his November 5 interview on the La Saga podcast.

"Age does not forgive. In addition, Canelo already looks tired. He started very young, at 15 years old, and he has been fighting for 20 years," Julio Cesar Chavez said in translated Spanish.

He later added, "And it's not so much the fights that **** you up. It's the concentration, being there, training every day, the body gets tired, and more so when you have so much money."

Props to Julio Cesar Chavez for being willing to get brutally honest about where Canelo is in his career. And nobody would be able to know Canelo's position better than him (and perhaps Oscar De La Hoya), given that he also reached the pinnacle of the sport as a Mexican.

This article first appeared on KO on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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