Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez said he is focused on becoming an all-time great as the Mexican star prepares for his unification showdown with Caleb Plant.
Canelo (56-1-2) will put his WBA, WBC and WBO belts on the line against unbeaten IBF champion Plant (21-0) in Saturday's blockbuster clash in Las Vegas.
Ahead of his historic tilt at the undisputed super middleweight crown, Canelo made clear his intentions in the final news conference before the mouth-watering bout.
"That's the goal, to be an all-time great," Canelo said during Wednesday's news conference, with the winner to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion in the four-belt era. "I'm so proud of trying to achieve that.
"I'm never going to stop until I try my best to be one of the all-time greats. Only one thing goes through my mind, and that's winning.
"That's the only thing I'm concerned about. Everything else is beyond me. The only thing I care about is what's going to happen inside the ring on Saturday night."
Canelo added: "The fact that I can make history this weekend along with Formula One driver Sergio Perez, is very motivating for me. My goal is to make this an unbelievable weekend for Mexico."
The midweek meeting was much more civil than September's news conference after the pair were involved in a physical altercation.
"People are going to say what they're going to say. But I get the final say and I can't wait to prove everything in the ring. I can't focus on what other people say about me. If I listened to the doubters, I wouldn't even be here," American boxer Plant said.
"I've been the underdog before. It's a place I like to be. I like people rooting against me. It gives me extra motivation, but when you're fighting Canelo for undisputed status, you don’t need much more motivation than that.
"Make sure you tune in. This isn't just the biggest fight of the year, but you're tuning in to witness history when I get crowned the undisputed super middleweight champion."
Meanwhile, UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is eyeing a sensational boxing clash with Canelo.
Usman – riding a wave of 14 straight victories, the second most in history – flagged the idea ahead of Saturday's UFC 268 in New York, which would be reminiscent of mixed-martial arts star Conor McGregor's boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017.
McGregor lost to undefeated five-division world champion Mayweather via a 10th-round TKO.
"I think that's something that [would be] the biggest ever in history," Usman said, speaking ahead of Saturday's UFC 268 in New York. "That's what I'm looking to do. That's something that scares me. That's something that gets me up in the morning. That's something that I might risk leaving my daughter for another 12 weeks for.
"He's a master of his craft," Usman said of Canelo. "He's used to these boxers. He's used to the boxing speed and the boxing movements and things like that. We're different. Sometimes different can be good. What's wrong with giving him a different look? Of course, it's a tall tree to climb, but we saw what happened the last time I was the underdog."
On this day in 2014: Carl Froch knocks out George Groves in Wembley rematch
Carl Froch knocked out George Groves in their rematch at Wembley Stadium on this day in 2014 as the Nottingham fighter retained his WBA and IBF super-middleweight titles.
Froch added to his victory in the initial bout in Manchester the previous November, in which he had recovered from a first-round knockdown and terrible start to stop Groves controversially in the ninth.
This time he finished the contest with a breathtaking eighth-round punch which knocked Groves out in front of a crowd of 80,000.
Froch said afterwards: “I showed tonight why I’m a four-time champion of the world, why I’ve defended my world title 13 times on the spin.
“I am amongst the best fighters in the world – that’s who George Groves was in there with tonight.
“The finish of that (fight) showed why I’ve mixed with the elite for many years and how hard it is to get to that level.”
He added: “I am feeling unbelievably elated. This is the best moment in the history of my boxing career.”
Groves made a solid start to the contest which began cagily, with neither fighter wanting to give anything away. Froch was patient, waiting for his opening and Groves struggled to keep pace as the fight wore on.
“I knew it was only going to take a couple of big right hands to the chin and I timed it perfectly,” Froch said.
Groves said: “It’s boxing and fair play to Carl, he caught me and I went down. Obviously I felt I was doing very well in the fight, I was in my groove and I was boxing well but it’s boxing.
“I’ll come back bigger, better and stronger. Ultimately I feel like I let myself down but congratulations to Carl, fair play, he got the punch.”
It proved the last fight for Froch – aged 36 at the time – before retirement, with him hanging up his gloves with a professional record of 35 bouts, 33 wins and two defeats, 24 of the victories coming by knockout.
On This Day in 2016: Tony Bellew wins WBC world cruiserweight title
Tony Bellew won the vacant WBC world cruiserweight title against Ilunga Makabu at Goodison Park on this day in 2016.
Fighting at the home of his beloved Toffees, the Everton fan put on a show, claiming the belt with a third-round knockout.
Makabu had entered the fight as the bookmakers’ favourite and started well, sending Bellew to the canvas in the opening round with a left-hand shot.
However, the Liverpudlian quickly recovered with a barrage of combinations in the third round to floor Makabu.
The win meant Bellew won a world title at the third time of asking after previous bouts at light-heavyweight against Nathan Cleverly and Adonis Stevenson ended in defeat.
Bellew, who played ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan in Sylvester Stallone’s film Creed, admitted he had “achieved a dream”.
“I am Everton, and that’s why I got up. Nothing was going to stop me tonight,” he said.
“I’ve achieved a dream tonight, all those people who said I couldn’t do it, well I’ve done it. I’m world champion, that’s what I am!
“The last time I saw something like that I was in a Hollywood movie, now it’s real. I’ve lived the dream tonight. I am the best cruiserweight in the world, I have proven it tonight.”
Katie Taylor sets sights on Chantelle Cameron rematch and not retirement
Katie Taylor laughed off talk of retirement after her first professional defeat this month and is targeting a November rematch against Chantelle Cameron.
Taylor’s bid to become undisputed world champion in two weight categories simultaneously fell flat as the previously unbeaten lightweight was outpointed on her Ireland homecoming by Cameron in Dublin.
Cameron, who retained her four light-welterweight world titles with the majority decision win, has intimated she wants to step down to 135lbs to challenge for Taylor’s belts in any return bout.
And the 36-year-old Taylor insisted her only priority is another showdown with Cameron, telling RTE: “I don’t even know what retirement means. I definitely don’t feel like it’s time for me to retire.
“It will happen one day in the future, but now my sights are set on securing a rematch with Chantelle. That’s the only fight that matters to me now. I think we’re looking at a November date.
“I haven’t looked back on the fight yet. I think the right person won. I have to take the loss and move on from it. I’m just excited to get back to America to start training again for the rematch.
“I will learn from this. I definitely didn’t feel myself in there. I did feel very, very tired straight away. I’ll just have to go back to the drawing board.
“I’m definitely not going to end my career like that.”
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