Canelo Alvarez grew up on watching Shane Mosley and Gilberto Roman on CD… but says his big brother was his real hero

CANELO ALVAREZ grew up studying greats of the past on CD – but big brother Rigoberto was his first boxing hero.

The Mexican superstar is the youngest of SEVEN boxing brothers – Rigoberto, Ramon, Ricardo, Victor, Daniel, and Gonzalo.

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Canelo Alvarez revealed big brother Rigoberto is his boxing hero[/caption]

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The Alvarez fighting family in full[/caption]

Canelo began boxing aged 13 under the guidance of Eddy Reynoso and his mentor dad Chepo.

But oldest brother Rigoberto was the first to fight from the Alvarez bunch – helping to inspire Canelo’s legendary career.

“I start boxing for my older brother,” Canelo said ahead of his Las Vegas super-fight against Terence Crawford on Saturday night.

“I started boxing for him and I watch him and then I started to realise I wanted to be a fighter, I love boxing.

“And then I went with Eddy in the gym and he start giving me CDs with fights, Gilberto Roman, Sugar Shane Mosley. I see all of them to learn something.

“Eddy always gave me videos to learn from that. But, I really started for my older brother.”

Canelo turned professional at 15 – earning just $40 a fight in Mexico.

But in the two decades since, he has become boxing’s biggest attraction with over $500MILLION made in the ring.

CANELO VS CRAWFORD: ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED AHEAD OF THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY

“Look at my career, I did everything in boxing already,” he said.

“I’ve been there in the hight level for 14 years. Since I was 20.

“It’s been amazing, I’m very grateful with my team because I started with Eddy and Chepo Reynoso since I was 13.

“It’s been a very good career for me. I’m very grateful, very proud about it and very proud to represent my country and be in this position.”

Canelo has headlined in huge world title fights, in sold-out stadium with millions of pay-per-views sold.

But his undisputed super-middleweight title defence against unbeaten American Crawford, 37, tops potentially the lost.

The 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium – home to the Las Vegas Raiders – plays host for its first-ever fight with the bout streamed on Netflix.

“I’ve been in big fights. Many big fights but this fight is especially different,” Canelo admitted.

“You can see the magnitude of the fight, Netflix, Riyadh Season. Everything around the fight, you can see how big it is and to me it means a lot.”

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Canelo and Terence Crawford headline in Las Vegas[/caption]