By: Sean Crose
It hasn’t been a good few weeks for legendary fighter Canelo Alvarez. First, he lost a mega fight to pound for pound great Terence Crawford. And now Ring Magazine informs the world that the red haired star has undergone surgery on his elbow. Suffice to say, the 35 year old Canelo will be out of the ring at least until next year. Although he was bested by Crawford, Canelo remains one of the most popular and well regarded athletes in the sport. He also has a couple of fights left on his contract with Saudi sports honcho Turki Alalshikh – provided he’s well enough to fight, of course.
The 63-3-2 fighter was reportedly planning on coming back in February. That’s now obviously out of the question as it will take the man some time to heal. “Canelo has been diagnosed with loose bodies in his left elbow,” Team Alvarez has stated via Ring Magazine. “After a thorough evaluation and medical consultation with his orthopedic surgeon, he is scheduled to undergo a left elbow arthroscopic procedure to remove the loose bodies.”
With that being said, a full recovery appears to be in order. “Following the procedure,” Team Alvarez continued, “his orthopedic surgeon is recommending the use of a sling for a short period of time. His rehabilitation program is expected to allow a return to light training within 4 to 6 weeks.” Canelo has previously had operations on his knee and wrist, making this the man’s third known surgery. Fortunately, none of the injuries have been bad enough to take the man out of the fight game for extended periods of time. Four to 6 weeks certainly isn’t good, but it’s definitely better than a half a year or a full year away from the sport.
There are those who feel that Canelo is now on the downslide. His recent defeat against Crawford didn’t help convince people otherwise. Yet the fact that he’s 35 years old and has been through well over 100 boxing matches, it’s easy to see why the man can be seen is heading in the wrong direction career wise. Still , Canelo has made a fortune for himself and his family and by just proving himself to be a world-class fighter. The fact that it looks like he’ll still be able to fight as long as he wants shows that he hasn’t had enough for the sport yet. At this point Canelo can call his own shots, and that’s a good thing. Hopefully he’ll heal well.
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