Canelo Alvarez calls Conor McGregor ‘easy money’ fight, predicts knockout ‘at the time I want’

Canelo Alvarez | Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images

Canelo Alvarez expects to make light work of Conor McGregor if the two were ever to meet in the boxing ring.

The super middleweight champion defends his WBA, WBC, and WBO titles against Edgar Berlanga this Saturday, but that hasn’t stopped reporters from asking him what he has lined up for his next fight. Boxing reporter Manouk Akopyan asked Alvarez if he’d ever be interested in fighting UFC star Conor McGregor, which Alvarez found amusing.

“I know, and then we show boxing is better,” Alvarez said, before adding, “Easy, easy, way easy money.”

McGregor, who previously held UFC titles at 145 and 155 pounds, has participated in only one pro boxing bout, a high-profile contest that saw him go nine rounds with the legendary Floyd Mayweather before succumbing to strikes in the 10th. Since that August 2017 event, McGregor has competed sporadically in MMA, winning just one of his past four fights and he still awaits his next booking after an injury forced him out of a fight with Michael Chandler at UFC 303.

Asked how long McGregor would last against him, Alvarez predicted that he could beat McGregor by knockout whenever he decided to do so.

“At the time I want,” Alvarez said. “One round, two rounds, three rounds, whatever I want.”

Though it’s unlikely that Alvarez and McGregor ever square off under any combat sports rule set, the boxing superstar is going head-to-head with the UFC itself this weekend when he takes on Berlanga at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, not far from Sphere, which hosts UFC 306 the same night.

UFC CEO Dana White has made it clear that he won’t shy away from scheduling annual UFC events for Mexican Independence Day weekend in the future, a decision that Alvarez has no problem with.

“No, it’s nothing,” Alvarez said. “Competition is good. May and September are my days and competition is good. I don’t do it in that way, I just focus on my team and focus on what I’m doing, and if somebody wants to do other shows, it’s fine.”