During yesterday’s final press conference for tomorrow’s undisputed super heavyweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford, commentator Max Kellerman hosted the festivities. During his address to the public Kellerman would spend a decent amount of time glazing Turki Alalshikh and then specifically Dana White, who he says boxing fans should be grateful to because he will be the one to grow the sport in a major league.
“Let me start with [Alalshikh] because if he’s never born, none
of us are here right now,” Kellerman would say. “This was his idea! And then Dana White. Dana White is the greatest combat sports promoter in my lifetime. He built an institution. You know why boxing’s 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.”
That drew some boos from the crowd before Kellerman tried to quickly hush them.
“Stop [the boos] now because he’s about to do it for boxing again,” Kellerman said. “You want an NBA or an NFL in boxing? Here it comes, because he knows how to build an institution…”
Kellerman’s description would catch the attention of Canelo, who interjected to stop Kellerman in his tracks.
“Hey, Max. Boxing is always bigger, bigger, and big,” Canelo shot back. “Don’t say boxing is not big enough. Boxing is big. You know how big is boxing…Maybe it’s going to be bigger but look, boxing is always big and big and bigger and bigger and bigger. We need to talk about that, too. Boxing is boxing. My respect for the other sport. Great job, everything, but boxing is boxing.”
Kellerman would play deferential in the moment while shifting his attention back to the magnitude of the event and the quality you can expect from those bringing it to you. Catch the full exchange in the video link at the top.
