Since his rise in the early 1990s, Julio Cesar Chavez was anointed by the public as the greatest Mexican fighter of all time.
With his imense talent, deadly left hook, jaw of stone, and relentless bravery, he engineered some of the most legendary nights in boxing history. These feats led him to surpass the careers of Ruben "Puas" Olivares and Salvador Sanchez, both considered the best in Aztec boxing before the rise of the "Great Mexican Champion."
Around the turn of the new millennium, Erik "Terrible" Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera appeared as the potential heirs of Chavez at the top of Mexican boxing. Both had careers that also led to being immortalized in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. But in the end, neither Morales nor Barrera could come close to the greatness of the "Sultan of Culiacan."
After this time, at the end of the 2010s, along with the true heir of the "Great Mexican Champion", Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., a boy from Guadalajara named Saul "Canelo" Alvarez also stood out.
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Both were propelled to stardom by the main television networks in Mexico (TV Azteca and Televisa) to revive boxing in this country after two decades in which the masses were deprived of the biggest fights due to the proliferation of Pay-Per-View.
And while Chavez Jr. couldn't quite live up to his legendary last name, on the flip side, Alvarez did go on to become a megastar, reaching heights only Chavez Sr. had ever seen.
After Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao retired, Canelo took the torch, and since 2016 he has been considered the face of boxing.
There is no doubt that Canelo has categorically surpassed Chavez as the highest-grossing Mexican boxer of all time.
For his 1996 bout against Oscar De La Hoya, Chavez earned a career-high $9 million in 115 bouts. Alvarez, by comparison, in his last fight alone — the closing of the trilogy against Gennadiy Golovkin — earned a guaranteed $45 million.
Canelo has been on Forbes Magazine's list of the world's highest-paid athletes for several years now. On the 2023 list, the Jalisco native ranks fifth with $110 million in earnings, trailing only NBA icon LeBron James and world soccer stars Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
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And obviously, this economic success goes hand in hand with his performance in the ring.
With almost 18 years in the ring and 62 fights, Canelo has won world titles in four different divisions (super welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight). In 2021, he made history by being the first Mexican to unify the crowns of a division of the four main boxing organizations (WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO) and the first fighter, in general, to do so at 168 pounds. Until his loss a year ago against undefeated light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, he had been considered the best pound-for-pound fighter for three years.
Although he hasn't retired yet, all these sporting achievements have firmly brought Canelo into the conversation about whether he can catch up with Chavez as the best Mexican fighter of all time. In his 25-year career, the "Sultan de Culiacan" won titles in three different weights (featherweight, lightweight, and super lightweight) and from 1990 to 1993, he was considered the best fighter in the world.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez: Comparing records
If the debate is analyzed only by looking at the achievements, as the legendary Roberto Duran did in 2021, then Alvarez has already surpassed Chavez. But things, in this case, are not black and white.
Much of a boxer's greatness is measured by the quality of his wins.
And in this area, Chavez's record is much more impressive than that of Canelo at this stage of his career.
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Although the mythical undefeated record of the "Great Mexican Champion" of 89-0-1 has a lot of filler—in his champion era, he faced several rivals with rookie records and even one with a losing record of 2-15-0 — it cannot be denied that he faced the best opponents in a boxing era in which the divisions were full of formidable fighters.
One has to just take a look at who Chavez won his first crown against. In 1984, he defeated fellow countryman Mario Martinez for the vacant WBC featherweight title. "El Azabache" entered this matchup as the favorite and was seen as a fighter with greater potential than "J.C.," who came into this clash almost as an unknown.
Canelo, for his part, was crowned for the first time by defeating Englishman Matthew Hatton for the vacant WBC super welterweight title. The younger brother of former champion Ricky Hatton was a blown up welterweight who was far from a legitimate contender.
As for big fights, Chavez's record includes wins over formidable champions such as Roger Mayweather, Jose Luis Ramirez, Greg Haugen, and Meldrick Taylor. Against the latter, the "Sultan of Culiacan" achieved the victory that established him the best Mexican fighter in history. Taylor was an undefeated former Olympic gold medalist who was among the best around.
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And in addition to the fight against Meldrick, the victories that Chavez obtained against Puerto Ricans Edwin "Chapo" Rosario and Hector "Macho" Camacho — two members of the Hall of Fame — are also jewels on his record.
On Alvarez's side, his most outstanding victories are those against Austin Trout, Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant, Miguel Cotto, Sergey Kovalev, and Golovkin (2x).
The first three were good champions, but not on Taylor's level. For his part, Cotto is already in the Hall of Fame, and Kovalev and Golovkin are candidates to be immortalized. However, Canelo's wins over them were not as convincing as those recorded by "J.C." against Rosario and Camacho. It is also worth mentioning Cotto and Kovalev had already seen their best days in the ring when they faced the man from Jalisco.
Nonetheless, Alvarez is still writing his history, and his discipline is his greatest asset, already at 32 years old, if he aspires to catch up with Chavez as the best Mexican fighter of all time. At this age, the excesses outside the ring had already sent Julio's career into a tailspin. Meanwhile, except for a hand injury that afflicted him last year, Canelo is still in excellent physical condition. He surely has a few more years left fighting in the big boxing leagues, which he could collect more big wins.
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If he goes on a roll and beats Bivol, and then David Benavidez — who has emerged as his great rival at 168 pounds — it could lead him to match and perhaps surpass Chavez.
But, until further notice, Julio Cesar Chavez remains the undisputed king of Mexican boxing.