‘Canelo’ Alvarez: From popsicle salesman to world champion

2:30 PM ET

MEXICO CITY — Long before he became a famous fighter and overcame his first major challenges in boxing, Saul “Canelo” Álvarez made history, alongside his brothers. On the night of June 28, 2008, in Zapopan, Jalisco, Canelo and his six brothers (Rigoberto, Ramón, Ricardo, Víctor, Gonzalo and Daniel) all featured on a card that would go down in the boxing record books.

Some of the brothers won on the night, while others lost, but the two that stood out as the best were Rigoberto and Canelo. It was Rigoberto, 12 years Canelo’s elder, who encouraged the now-world champion to don the gloves despite others in his family insisting otherwise. Rigoberto was Canelo’s first trainer.

In 2010, Rigoberto became the first titleholder in the family after winning an interim light middleweight belt. Canelo matched his brother’s achievement a year later when he became light middleweight titlist on March 5, 2011 in a victory against Matthew Hatton (at a catch weight of 150lb). The student had equaled the master — and Canelo would soon …

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