Canelo Álvarez is a boxer, after all, so perhaps its not so surprising that he’s looking for a fight.
But the target of Álvarez’s fury is a bit more eye-opening: Lionel Messi, perhaps the greatest soccer player ever. What did Messi do to Álvarez? Far less than you’d imagine for the fury the Mexican boxer unleashed on Twitter in the aftermath of his country’s World Cup loss to Argentina.
Messi was front and center in Saturday’s high-profile clash at Lusail Stadium, scoring the winner his side desperately needed in a 2-0 victory over El Tri.
In the aftermath of the win Argentina celebrated wildly in their dressing room and in the midst of those celebrations, Messi was seen giving the tiniest of kicks to a Mexico jersey he apparently obtained in a post-game jersey exchange.
Seriously, this kick was nearly non-existent, and also probably accidental.
Canelo had some strong words for Messi after seeing his locker room celebration 👀
(via @canelo, nicolasotamendi30/IG) pic.twitter.com/emRRHK1nGO
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) November 28, 2022
But that was enough to draw the ire of the boxing legend, who went on Twitter not just to express his displeasure but to not-so-vaguely threaten one of the greatest players of all time.
“Did you see Messi cleaning the floor with our shirt and flag????” Álvarez tweeted.
“He better pray to God that I don’t find him!!” Álvarez added in another tweet. “Just like I respect Argentina, he has to respect Mexico! I’m not talking about the country as a whole, just about the b––––––– that Messi pulled.”
Naturally, some of Messi’s former teammates rushed to his defense, including former Argentina star Sergio Aguero.
“Mr. Canelo, don’t look for excuses or problems, surely you don’t know about football and what happens in a changing room,” the retired striker tweeted.
“The shirts are always on the floor after games have finished due to sweat and then if you look properly, he makes the movement to remove his boot and accidentally hits it.”
Former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas chimed in on Twitter, saying: “You don’t know this person, nor do you know how a dressing room works or what happens after a game. ALL shirts, including the ones we use ourselves, go on the floor and are washed afterward, even more so when you are celebrating an important victory.”
There is plenty of time for other World Cup controversies to overtake this one as the most inane (and obviously this one’s in a different category than some of the more consequential stuff), but the bar has certainly been set high.
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