On October 29, 2005, a golden chapter in the history of Mexican boxing began to be written. On that day, in Jalisco, Saul Canelo Alvarez made his professional debut with a fourth round TKO over Abraham Gonzalez at the age of 15. Three and a half lustrums later, Alvarez is a worldwide sports figure, with a peculiarity: his relationship with his trainers.
Canelo’s career is facing one of its biggest and most dangerous challenges: he faces Kazakhstan’s Gennadiy Golovkin for the third time. The key point of the fight to be held on September 17 at the T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas,is that since the Mexican is coming from a resounding defeat against Dmitry Bivol, one more loss could condition his permanence at the top of boxing.
Facing this challenge, and more than ever, Canelo Alvarez has to listen to his corner, to his trainer, since a mistake in the execution of the strategy, against an elite knockout like Gennadiy Golovkin, is very expensive. But who is Alvarez’s trainer? We reveal below the peculiar story between the Mexican and his work team.
Canelo Alvarez’s history with his trainers: absolute fidelity
It was 2004 when everything changed for the Alvarez Barragan family. Of the eight children that Santos and Ana Maria’s marriage brought to the world, seven were boys. All of them, at some point in their lives, were professional boxers. Thus, at the age of 14, the youngest boy in the family, Santos Saúl, was taken to the Julián Magdaleno gymnasium in Guadalajara, Jalisco, at the urging of his brother Rigoberto, to be initiated into the world of boxing.
With the example of his six brothers, Saul, nicknamed Canelo because he has red hair and freckles on his cheeks, already knew beforehand that he would enter a world full of sacrifice. At the aforementioned gym, he was welcomed by the Reynoso family , headed by the experienced trainer Jose, better known as Chepo, and his son Edinson Omar, called Eddy by those close to him.
Looking at Canelo’s boxing skills, both Chepo and Eddy Reynoso knew that the 14-year-old was the most precious gem in the Alvarez family and decided to bet big on him. After participating in a national boxing competition, where he came in first place, they decided to make a foray into professional boxing when the boy was only 15 years old. History was about to be written.
The relationship between the Reynoso family, Chepo and Eddy, and Saul Canelo Alvarez mutated from the typical one between a trainer and his athlete, to a much closer, even familiar and paternal one. On many occasions, Canelo refers, especially to Eddy, as a second father.
Chepo Reynoso, Canelo Alvarez, Eddy Reynoso. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
As the fights went on, the name Canelo Alvarez gained traction in the Mexican boxing community. The breakthrough came when Televisa television decided to adopt him as one of the most promising Mexican fighters in the sport. Very soon, Alvarez’s fame even surpassed his boxing qualities, at that time, not yet as developed by the Reynoso family.
The years passed and little by little Saul Canelo Alvarez was leveling what was said and expected of him with what he really is: an absolute elite boxer. He moved up divisions, won world championships and became a multimillionaire, but one thing never changed (and surely never will): his group of trainers, Chepo and Eddy Reynoso.
Canelo training with Eddy Reynoso for the trilogy vs Golovkin. (Matt Thomas/Getty Images)
Who are Chepo and Eddy Reynoso, trainers of Canelo Alvarez?
Jose Reynoso earned his reputation in Mexican boxing through his work as a promoter and trainer. His son Eddy followed in his footsteps after trying his luck in other trades, even after entering the United States illegally to work. This duo of trainers made world champions out of boxers like Oscar Chololo Larios and Javier Chatito Jauregui. However, none of them ever achieved the transcendence of Canelo Alvarez, a four-division World Champion, first-ever Undisputed World Super middleweight titlist, anda future boxing Hall of Famer.
Chepo Reynoso, who made a quantum leap from butcher to boxing promoter and trainer, has become less of a presence in the Canelo Alvarez camp over the years due to his age. So the baton was taken up by his son Eddy, who is now 46 years old and is Canelo’s head trainer.
Thanks to his good work with Alvarez, Eddy Reynoso has been named trainer of the year on a couple of occasions and has had the opportunity to work with boxers such as Ryan Garcia, Vergil Ortiz Jr., Luis Nery, Andy Ruiz and Oscar Valdez among others.
The years go by, multiple victories (and few defeats), championships, fame and millions of dollars come and go in the career of Canelo Alvarez, but there is one immutable, indestructible pillar, and that is the relationship that the pride of Guadalajara has with his trainers, Eddy and Chepo Reynoso ,who saw him grow from a teenager to a man; from an amateur dreamer to one of the best boxers in the history of Mexico and the world.
Canelo Alvarez is a four-division World Champion. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
