Video emerged of Argentina’s football team celebrating in their dressing room after their win over Mexico. In the video it appears Argentina’s biggest star, Lionel Messi, had cleaned the floor with a Mexican jersey. Early interpretations of the footage even expressed belief it was a flag of Mexico that Messi was disrespecting.
Naturally this angered the biggest boxing star in the world – Saul Canelo Alvarez. Alvarez proudly represents Mexico and was dismayed to learn what had transpired. But it’s unclear if he even saw the footage before he posted threats.
“”Did you guys see Messi cleaning the floor with our jersey and flag,”
“He better pray to God that I don’t find him.”
“Just like I respect Argentina, he has to respect Mexico! I’m not talking about the country as a whole, just about the bulls–t that Messi did.”
After the said tweets, Canelo received a lot of criticism from fans who believe he might have misunderstood the video.
Some onlookers came to Messi’s defense including Mexico footballer Andres Guardado.
Guardado explained: “I have had the fortune and privilege to face Messi for many years in Spain and to live moments like those of my son. I know the person Leo is.”
Messi initially provided no response to the incident while it was going viral but he couldn’t escape public scrutiny after Argentina’s latest football match.
At the press conference Messi told media:
“It was a misunderstanding. Those who know me know that I don’t disrespect anyone. These are things that happen in the locker room after the game. I don’t have to ask for forgiveness because I didn’t disrespect the people of Mexico or the jersey.”
Alvarez initially doubled down on his questionable take but has since backtracked. The boxer acknowledged his overreaction and offered his sincere apology in an attempt to end the controversy.
“These last few days I got carried away by the passion and love I feel for my country and made comments that were out of place so I want to apologize to Messi and the people of Argentina. Every day we learn something new and this time it was my turn,”
“I wish both teams much success in their matches today and here we will continue supporting Mexico until the end.” the boxer tweeted.
