Two years after hanging up his gloves in MMA, Anderson Silva is set to box against YouTube sensation Jake Paul.
And apparently this revelation merited a phone call from one of the biggest boxers alive today – Saul Canelo Alvarez.
Most importantly, Silva has had success in professional boxing after retiring from mixed martial arts.
After leaving the UFC in 2020, Silva defeated former MMA champion Tito Ortiz and former boxing World champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Silv revealed to the Full Send Podcast:
“I received a phone call from Canelo to say ‘continue, I know you respect the boxing,’ and that’s what I needed to do; prove my respect for boxing. Boxing is very interesting because without disrespecting other sports, in boxing a lot of people died to make the sport huge.”
“A lot of people lost everything to make this sport huge and I can’t come inside the sport and not do my best. I need to show respect for the sport of boxing, it’s not about knocking out Jake Paul or knocking out another opponent, it’s just go inside and prove your respect for boxing.”
In preparation for his bout with Chavez Jr. in Mexico last year, Alvarez first met Silva. He said that the experience left him star-struck.
Silva explained:
“It’s funny because I was in Mexico with my coach and I was warming up and then Canelo comes to talk to me. “I was like ‘oh my God, no way, Canelo bro?’ That’s serious. He came to talk to me, his brother too, and I was so happy because when the fight was done he came and talked to me and said ‘you’re doing the best’.”
“He told me to continue doing my best, continue working because I was doing something very special – he didn’t give me tips but he gave me a glove and I was like ‘wow, I have Canelo’s glove’. It was amazing.”