Matthew Hatton urges Canelo Alvarez to retire

Matthew Hatton believes Canelo Alvarez should retire now, as the Mexican prepares to face Christian Mbilli for the WBC super-middleweight title on Saturday in Riyadh. Canelo is returning from defeat to Terence Crawford and is continuing his preparations for the bout. Hatton feels a loss to Mbilli would tarnish the champion’s legacy to some extent, and that it would be better to leave the sport on a high.

Canelo’s former opponent nevertheless recognises the qualities of the boxer he faced. “When I agreed to the fight he was being billed as the next big superstar in world boxing,” Hatton told the Toe2Toe podcast. Hatton also admitted that he may have underestimated Canelo because of his youth, praising his range of punches, his choices in exchanges and his ring intelligence.

Hatton faced Canelo in 2011, in the Mexican’s first world title fight. In his own career, Hatton was a European champion and a world-level contender; he is the brother of Ricky, a legend of British boxing. That history lends particular weight to his assessment of Canelo’s career, which he described as remarkable.

“Personally I would like to see Canelo stop now, he’s had such a good career, he’s had a fantastic legacy and I think it’s a shame when they go on too long,” Hatton said. He nonetheless believes Canelo still has enough to beat Mbilli and considers the contest an interesting one. But in his view, a defeat this weekend would leave a mark on Canelo’s legacy. “We all look at that differently. I would like to see him retire now,” he added.

The fight is due to take place in Saudi Arabia as conflict in the region escalates. Security concerns have also prompted sporting events elsewhere in the kingdom to be postponed or cancelled, amid Houthi strikes on Saudi airports such as King Khalid International in Riyadh. Canelo, for his part, has called Saudi Arabia a special place for him and said he wants to become world champion again. He added that his ambition and love of boxing motivate him to carry on.