Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has issued an apology to Lionel Messi after accusing the Argentina star of ‘insulting’ his home country of Mexico.
Canelo, arguably boxing’s pound-for-pound best fighter and a multi-weight champion, was left furious in the aftermath of Argentina’s victory over Mexico on Saturday.
Post-match footage showed a Mexican shirt discarded on the floor of the dressing room in front of Messi while he and his teammates celebrated their 2-0 victory.
As the PSG star kicked off his boot, he inadvertently kicked the Mexican shirt, with Canelo warning Messi ‘he better pray to God that I don’t find him’.
‘Just as I respect Argentina, you have to respect Mexico! I’m not talking about the country, I’m talking about Messi because of the bulls*** he did,’ Canelo wrote.
‘Since the Mexico shirt is on the ground, it’s already an insult. Stop bulls***ing about what was or wasn’t.’
The boxing star has now apologised to Messi for his comments, admitting they were ‘out of place’.
‘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 for which I want to apologize to Messi and the people of Argentina,’ Canelo wrote on Twitter.
‘Every day we learn something new and this time it was my turn.’
Following the row, Mexico captain Andres Guardado defended Messi, revealing it was his shirt seen on the ground and explaining it was normal for them to be left out in order to be washed.
‘Unfortunately, perhaps, Canelo does not understand what is experienced in a dressing room, and that is why I can understand the reaction of being offended by seeing the Mexico shirt on the ground and everything that has gone viral.
‘But to me, it really seems silly what is being talked about because it doesn’t matter much. For me, I repeat, Leo has had many details not only with me, with many colleagues who know what he is like and beyond what has been said, it is pure to generate controversy or sell things.
‘Every time I have had the opportunity to ask Messi for something, a change of shirt or a photo with my son, he has always done it.
‘Anyone who has never been in a football dressing room does not understand. It is an agreement with the staff, it’s the way it is, when you leave all the sweaty jerseys on the floor it is all to wash and what you do not leave on the floor you take with you to the house. Dirty clothes go to the ground, whether it’s your shirt or the opponent’s, it’s always like that.
‘In fact, that shirt was mine, I swapped it with Leo and I also threw his on the ground so that they would wash it for me. In the locker room it is understood that way because we are footballers, we know what lives in a dressing room and we did not give it greater importance.’
MORE : Mexico captain Andres Guardado responds defends Lionel Messi after being accused of ‘disrespect’ by Canelo Alvarez
MORE : Canelo Alvarez blasts Lionel Messi for ‘insulting’ Mexico in Argentina’s dressing room
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