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Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has revealed to TMZ Sports that he would like to step into the world of professional boxing to face none other than Canelo Alvarez. Incredibly, it appears that Alvarez would be more than willing to grant Woodley's wish in the future.
During his conversation with TMZ, Woodley made the following comments regarding a potential move into the world of boxing.
“I still can box right now. I want Canelo. Number one, I’m not going to sit there and try to win 12 rounds, let’s be real. His defence is crazy. He slips an uppercut. Who slips an uppercut? He makes you look real stupid. I’m throwing all unorthodox. I’m coming, I’m trying to knock him out. If I land, he’s going down, let’s not even play. It don’t manner how many boxing fights you got, how many MMA fights. If I hit Canelo with everything on the punch, it’s a wrap.”
Alvarez responds
Alvarez was quick to react to Woodley's recent comments. When speaking with the Mexican sports platform TUDN Canelo revealed that while he does not consider Woodley a credible threat, he would be more than willing to welcome the former UFC champion into the ring any time.
“For me it does not represent a challenge to fight with a UFC fighter, but it does represent good business or whatever. Why not? Surely it will not be what they expect or what they want, but that’s why I’m saying it’s business. It is not the same to be a fighter of the UFC and to be a boxer. It does not represent any challenge, no risk, much less. Because the styles and the way of fighting are very different, it is as if you fight with a street fighter. Maybe he knows how to box a little, trained and everything, but it’s not the same as being with a professional fighter.”
It is hard to argue with Canelo's approach to a match-up with Woodley. We have seen from Mayweather vs McGregor in 2017 that world-class MMA fighters can't quite match up with world-class boxers in 'the sweet science'.
We have also seen the significant financial benefits of crossing MMA and boxing, which is the one factor that could one day make this fight a reality.
