UFC champion Kamaru Usman vows to stop Canelo Alvarez should they meet in crossover bout

UFC pound-for-pound No 1 Kamaru Usman says he would stop boxing counterpart Saul "Canelo" Alvarez should the two face-off in a crossover boxing bout, a fight he thinks will happen in the near future.

The UFC welterweight champion, 15-0 in the world’s lead mixed martial arts promotion, has been tipped to make a temporary move into boxing later this year to take on Alvarez.

Usman, 34, has held the welterweight belt for three years, with five successful defences in that time – including once in Abu Dhabi, in July 2020 – lifting him to the top of the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings.

Alvarez, meanwhile, sits atop the boxing equivalent having reigned supreme at super middleweight to become the division’s undisputed champion.

Last week, Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz claimed the Nigerian would knock out Alvarez inside three rounds, while also saying “all these boxers are cowards because none of them want to come to MMA”.

Speaking on Sunday to US outlet MMA Junkie, Usman said of the possible money-spinner against Alvarez: “Absolutely. Why wouldn’t it be a possibility? He said it himself. Pound-for-pound versus pound-for-pound. And what Ali meant in that is, they expect us to go over there. We’re real fighters. What would happen if me and him was out in the street?

“We’re real fighters and they expect us to come in and participate in their sport, their art. That’s why Ali said that. But, at the end of the day, I’m willing to step in there. I’ve got the [courage] to step in there.

“So it is what it is. But I do think that fight 100 percent needs to happen? The pound-for-pound versus the pound-for-pound: everyone says it can’t be done until they see it done. I’ve said it before, I will stop him.”

Kamaru Usman celebrates his against