As he prepares for his May 5 bout with Shane Mosley, WBC light middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez will share his thoughts with us on a weekly basis.
In this week's installment, Alvarez talks about his career goals.
Question: You’re a champion at age 21, so you appear to have a long road ahead. What are your long-term goals? Any fights you really want to make? Titles across multiple divisions? Pound-for-pound glory?
Alvarez: I don’t tend to think of the future in those specific of terms. Of course, I have lot of personal goals as a fighter, as a man. I don’t tend to think about much besides the present and what I need to do now.
Focus is something I pride myself on. It really is. I see in a lot of my peers a lack of focus on the fights themselves, and I wonder why some of them even fight. Sure, it’s easy to get lost in the hoopla and the "what’s next" discussion, but if I don’t box the best I can right now, then there is no next. I am a professional boxer, and my entire focus is winning these fights.
I am training very hard and making immense progress. The determination I have in training now will propel me to a victory on May 5, not thinking to what I have left to do. I am 21, so I know many opportunities will be presented and I look forward to them. But like I said, that doesn’t affect me as a fighter right now.
I am proud of what I have accomplished so far, and I will be proud to win on May 5. I’ve heard some people ask, "Well what if you don’t win?" The truth is that isn’t an option to me. I don’t fathom any situation where I don’t win; that’s really it. But I know it won’t be easy, and I embrace the challenge whole-heartedly.
