- Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez appeared to threaten soccer star Lionel Messi on Twitter.
- Argentina beat Mexico on Saturday, and Messi celebrated in the locker room after the win.
- Canelo took umbrage to what he claimed was disrespect of Mexico's flag during the celebrations.
One of the world's best boxers, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, appeared to threaten Lionel Messi after the soccer star's FIFA World Cup celebration Saturday.
Argentina beat Mexico 2-0 in a Group C game at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, thanks to goals from Messi in the 64th minute, and Enzo Fernandez in the 87th.
The result saw Argentina climb to second place in the group, trailing Poland by just a point, and put Mexico in a precarious position in fourth with just one point from two games so far.
Canelo live-tweeted his thoughts during the match and became irate at Messi's reaction in the locker room, when he was seen on video lifting a Mexico jersey from the ground by using his right foot.
The Mexican boxer, a five-belt world boxing champion at super middleweight, saw this as a disrespectful act and claimed on social media that Messi was "cleaning the floor with our jersey and flag."
In an apparent threat, the 32-year-old added: "He should ask God that I don't find him."
Watch the incident right here:
—ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) November 28, 2022
An ESPN reporter told Canelo that threatening Messi is 'cowardly'
Mexican-Israeli sports journalist David Faitelson, who works for ESPN and has 4 million followers on Twitter, did not support one of boxing's biggest stars trying to pick a fight with a non-boxer.
"The 'clown' suit doesn't fit you," Faitelson told Canelo. "You are a serious boxer. Keep it up."
It was not long before Canelo replied: "You don't know anything."
To which Faitelson simply said to forget about Messi and concentrate on Dmitry Bivol — the dominant light heavyweight boxer who beat Canelo earlier this year.
Canelo rebounded with a win over Gennadiy Golovkin in September, and a rematch with Bivol has been mooted for super middleweight in 2023.
—David Faitelson (@Faitelson_ESPN) November 28, 2022
Canelo seemed to take umbrage to Faitelson's comments, as he implied he'd lump the reporter in with Messi when it comes to his sworn enemies.
But Faitelson appeared unfazed.
"Yes, you'll knock me out for sure. But I insist on Bivol," he said.
"Why, instead of wasting time on cheap controversies, don't you already look for a rematch with the Russian? Look, threatening a soccer player seems very cowardly to me."
Canelo might not even fight Bivol next, anyway
While Messi remains in the hunt for the World Cup top scorer award, having scored two goals from two games for Argentina, Canelo seems to be passing over Bivol in favor of a fight against John Ryder, according to boxing promoter Eddie Hearn.
The Matchroom chairman said Saturday that he had messaged Eddy Reynoso, Canelo's trainer and manager, to say that after Ryder's upset win over Zach Parker, he's now the mandatory challenger to one of Alvarez's world titles.
"Let's go in May at the Emirates" Stadium in London, the home of the EPL's Arsenal, said Hearn.
"It would be a dream for John Ryder, and he deserves it. He's a very, very good fighter. He's now mandatory challenger to Canelo Alvarez, and this could be our chance to bring Canelo to the UK. It would be unbelievable."