Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez Are BMF Of Boxing, Veteran Trainer Says

A veteran boxing trainer explained why he thinks Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez are the “BMF” of boxing.

Next week, the UFC will hold the first and only “BMF” title fight between welterweight superstars Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. The said one-off title fight created a huge buzz in combat sports that even some in boxing are talking about it.

In fact, veteran trainer Ricky Funez, who used to train former world boxing champion Brandon Rios, gave his take on who is the BMF in boxing.

During a brief talk with Elie Seckbach of EsNews, Funez named Pacquiao and Canelo as the true BMFs of boxing. According to Funez, Pacquiao became a BMF when he returned and schooled the younger Keith Thurman. As for Canelo, Funez thinks that the Mexican boxing superstar evolved prolifically after losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“Boxing? Manny Pacquiao! since he came back and did a beautiful performance against Keith Thurman. I believe, Canelo (is at) number two. No, let me go back Canelo no. 1 (then) Manny Pacquiao cause he took some time off,” Funez explained.

“I’ve become a big fan of Canelo cause after Floyd (Mayweather) loss, he did a 360 (turn),” Funez added.

Canelo Alvarez is looking to fight in December with David Lemieux targeted as an opponent. In this picture, Alvarez celebrates after his majority-decision win over Gennady Golovkin during their WBC/WBA middleweight title fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sept. 15, 2018. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

In a different video, Funez elaborated his thoughts on Pacquiao. Based on his assessment, the Filipino legend is “the next” living legend after Mayweather.

“He’s phenomenal man, besides Floyd Mayweather, he’s the next living legend in fighting,” Funez said about Pacquiao.

Back in UFC, some believe that the promotion should create more BMF title fights in the future.

Former light-heavyweight title contender Anthony Smith stated in his recent talk with Sirius XM that he would even participate in the said title match should the UFC decides to repeat it.

“It would be a huge miss if it was a [one-off] because I think you can create a whole other thing that people want to fight for. If they keep it around, I’m in. I would love to have some crazy fight, like me and Thiago [Santos] could fight for that title once a month,” Smith said about BMF title fight.

Smith also emphasized that the BMF doesn’t always have to be taken as a serious title fight because sometimes fans just want see exciting fights for no reason.

“It doesn’t always have to make sense, maybe it’s not even about the title implication or anything like that. Sometimes it’s just a fight you want to see for no reason,” Smith emphasized.