Michael Chandler Says Canelo Alvarez’s Boxing Philosophy Inspired Him

Published 05/14/2021, 5:30 AM EDT

Former multi-time Bellator lightweight champion, Michael Chandler, will fight Charles Oliveira at UFC 262. ‘Iron’ will aim to become the undisputed no.1 lightweight on the planet with a triumph this weekend. Ahead of this mega-fight, Chandler took time to draw a comparison of him with super-middle boxing champion, Canelo Alvarez.

Alvarez defeated Billy Joe Saunders last weekend to establish his supremacy. He threw a perfectly timed uppercut that broke Saunders’s cheekbone, earning him a T/KO stoppage. Hence, Chandler, who was in awe of the Mexican fighter’s power, even found similarities between himself and Alvarez.

“We were just talking because Canelo just fought last week and we watched Canelo. He just throws boom, boom, two, two-shot combinations, three-shot combinations as hard as you possibly can perfectly balanced. Extremely hard,” said Chandler.

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“A lot of the same stuff that we do,” he added. Chandler also said that he is looking for a knockout against Oliveira. However, if needed, he will be ready to go the distance.

“Like it’s just the philosophy of just basic hard. And then obviously the cardio is there and then the IQ is there to be able to make the reads set traps, smoke screens. A KO maybe it’s what we’re looking for. If not, we’ll be there hard for 25 minutes either way,” he added.

This is no doubt that this will be the biggest fight in Chandler’s long MMA career. A win at UFC 262, will give him the opportunity to join the rare club of fighters to capture belts at both Bellator MMA and the UFC.

Can Michael Chandler become the undisputed lightweight king at UFC 262?

Chandler, who is a complete fighter, has a great set of skills. However, he will have a stern challenge in ‘Do Bronx’ ahead of him this weekend. Despite this, ‘Iron’ is certainly more than capable of getting a win in the pay-per-view.

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Given Chandler’s promise of an opening-round KO, it should come as no surprise that he has been monitoring Canelo Alvarez. Now, it remains to be seen if he can follow in the footsteps of the Mexican boxer.

VIDEO: “YOU Got Dana White Privilege”- Tony Ferguson Goes Off on Michael Chandler During UFC 262 Press-Conference

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Apratim Banerjee is an MMA author for EssentiallySports and has been writing professionally for almost a year. Before his current gig, Apratim worked as a UFC writer for Sportskeeda. A long-time MMA fan, Apratim has developed a critical eye for the sport that has helped him transfer his vast knowledge to his copies and give hardcore and casual readers a detailed insight into the fights and fighters.

Michael Chandler Says Canelo Alvarez’s Boxing Philosophy Inspired Him

Can Michael Chandler become the undisputed lightweight king at UFC 262?

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