Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez revealed that his hand injury had kept him from fighting at the top of his game against Dmitry Bivol and many more fighters.
Bivol was Alvarez’s highest profile fight since he completed his collection of belts at 168lbs as he became the undefeated super middleweight champion.
While many had backed the Mexican to emerge victorious yet again, Bivol showed to the world that he was a brilliant fighter in his own right, and staked a claim to be one of the finest pound-for-pound competitors in boxing today.
Canelo hopes for a rematch, while Bivol is targeting an undisputed status of his own as he looks to fight his compatriot Artur Beterbiev.
Speaking to DAZN ahead of his return fight following injury, against John Ryder, he was asked how surgery had gone, and what the impact had been on fighting with an injury.
He explained: “It’s good, it’s really good, I'm motivated because now I’m able to train 100% and that makes me feel confident and motivates myself.
“Like two years, three years but as a fighter, like, ‘One more fight, one more fight!’ but it is what it is. I’m happy to be able to train 100%.
“I think it affected everything because it’s boxing and I need my hands, but I have the skills to handle with one hand but at the end of the day, at the end of this past year I barely was able to train 100%. That made me not go 100% in the fight.
“Yes, I’m at my best, I`m the best fighter out there. I lost to one of the best fingers at 175 and I am trying to make history, to do everything different to other fighters, to go up and down weight classes, but it’s not easy.
“I like challenges and I feel my best.
“I feel I’m at my best, I feel good and in my prime, and you’re going to see.”