Boxing

Canelo Alvarez Scolds Max Kellerman Over Stance About Boxing's Popularity

Canelo Alvarez checked Max Kellerman in an iconic way during a September 11 press conference.
Grant Young|
Canelo Alvarez during a press conference on September 10, 2025.
Canelo Alvarez during a press conference on September 10, 2025. | IMAGO / Hoganphotos

After a wait that has felt like years for many, the boxing world is just one day away from getting to see Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez meet in the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, in what is undoubtedly the biggest fight of 2025.

There are plenty of reasons for the hype around this fight. One of them is that several icons of the sports media sphere are part of the broadcast team. One great example of this is with Max Kellerman.

While Kellerman spent a large chunk of his sports media career covering boxing, he eventually transitioned to speaking about some of America's more mainstream sports on camera.

Max Kellerman
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Kellerman still occasionally appeared on HBO's boxing coverage over the past decade, but he's certainly most well-known for his time hosting First Take alongside Stephen A. Smith back when he was still with ESPN.

Kellerman's time spent on the fringes of the boxing world has seemingly sparked some heated opinions about the sport's current state, which Kellerman felt compelled to share when speaking in front of two of the world's greatest boxers.

MORE: Max Kellerman Disrespects Floyd Mayweather In ESPN Pound-For-Pound Boxer Debate

Canelo Alvarez Checks Max Kellerman For Downplaying Boxing's Popularity

Kellerman spent some time on the dais during a September 11 press conference for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight. At one point, he said, "And then Dana White. Dana White is the greatest combat sports promoter in my lifetime. He built an institution. You know why boxing is not as popular as it used to be anymore, right? UFC is really popular. That's because of Dana White. He built something, like the NBA."

When fans began booing when Kellerman said about boxing, he said, "Stop now. Because he's about to do it for boxing again, for boxing now. You want an NBA or an NFL for boxing? Here it comes."

Canelo then cut in at this point, saying, "Hey Max, Hey Max: Boxing is always [getting] bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Don't say boxing is not big enough. Boxing is big. You know how big is boxing."

Kellerman then asked if it should get bigger, to which Canelo responded, "Maybe it's gonna get bigger. But look, boxing is always big, and big, and bigger, and bigger, and bigger. You need to talk about that, too."

"Boxing is boxing," Canelo added, which Terence Crawford agreed with.

It's hard to imagine Canelo could have endeared himself to boxing fans any more than he already has. But that's exactly what he has done with this retort to Kellerman.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.