What a difference 14 years made.

In 2011, a 21-year-old Canelo Alvarez won his first world title. To that point, much of his reputation centered on facing ex-welterweights and the less-famous brothers of Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton. Rumors swirled that he was a gimmick fighter, that his red hair was being used to give him a promotional nudge beyond his in-ring means.

In Álvarez’s third fight of the calendar year, he headlined a split-site card against “The Contender” fan favorite Alfonso Gómez on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz pay-per-view, ultimately winning by sixth-round TKO. The controversy of Mayweather-Ortiz’s ending overshadowed everything else on the card, but some publications, including The Ring, called the Álvarez-Gómez stoppage premature.

In the same issue of The Ring, the “Top 10 Greatest Mexican Fighters” were ranked:

1. Julio César Chávez

2. Rubén Olivares

3. Salvador Sánchez

4. Carlos Zárate

5. Marco Antonio Barrera

6. Erik Morales

7. Miguel Canto

8. Ricardo López

9. Vicente Saldívar

10. Juan Manuel Márquez

The only fighter on the list who accomplished something notable after its publication was Márquez, who scored a crushing knockout of Manny Pacquiao that forced everyone to reevaluate his entire career and would almost certainly change the ordering of the list. At that point, it was a list Álvarez hoped he could one day be on, but he was understandably nowhere near it.

In the 14 years since the list’s publication, Álvarez has become one of boxing’s biggest stars and one of its most polarizing figures.

By 2012, Álvarez’s star power could no longer be denied when he began headlining his own premium cable fight cards on Showtime. He mowed through an aged Shane Mosley and bowled over Josesito López, then tackled an awkward fighter nobody wanted to face in Austin Trout, earning his shot at the king, Mayweather.

Despite one incredibly misguided judge turning in a card that called the fight a draw, a 23-year-old Álvarez was controlled by Mayweather in what amounted to a high-level learning experience. Mayweather, at the end of his career but in the middle of cementing his legacy as one of the sport’s biggest ever attractions, hailed Álvarez as a future superstar and one of the fighters who would shoulder the weight of boxing’s mainstream appeal. Similar to how Mayweather capitalized on his brush with Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, Álvarez’s popularity grew exponentially following his clash with Mayweather. And like Mayweather, Álvarez mastered the concept of turning skepticism and hate into dollars.

Nationalistic pride and hometown rooting are included with sports like boxing. They don’t always work for a fighter, however, and in some cases fighters have to actively combat stereotypes and disbelievers in addition to their opponents.

Álvarez has struggled for respect his entire career for one reason or another. It’s not clear why Álvarez seems to have difficulty winning over many Mexican fans, but there are options.

For starters, Álvarez is a patient counterpuncher from a place where fighters have been pigeonholed into an aggressive role many don’t adhere to. He also seems to have been favored promotionally and by the WBC for much of his career, he refused to stick to an established weight class for a time, he’s been on the lucky end of several close decisions and he’s been embroiled in a performance-enhancing drug controversy. And, of course, he’s a light-skinned Mexican with red hair.

As Álvarez has also demonstrated time and again, he’s petty and spiteful, and in a way that’s not an insult. He sensed the doubt and criticism, and instead of giving in, he set out to compile one of the best ledgers of his era. Certainly there can be questions about when Álvarez fought a few of his opponents, but he indeed fought them, leaving few stones unturned on his journey from junior middleweight to super middleweight and beyond.

From 2013-25, Álvarez has been clearly defeated one time, and it came against one of light heavyweight’s premier fighters. In fact, Álvarez’s losses were both to fighters who were easily among boxing’s top operators, and close wins that could have been losses were also to fighters who may one day be in the Hall of Fame. Even the most die-hard skeptics have to acknowledge that the depth of Álvarez’s ledger and his longevity near the top simply couldn’t happen if he were purely manufactured or media-created.

If facing top names weren’t enough, Álvarez succeeded in winning over a few hearts when he consolidated the super middleweight titles and nearly cleaned out the division. He doesn’t always express interest in honoring the sanctioning organizations, but then again he openly takes pride in being one of the sport’s few undisputed champions with all four belts in a division. The biggest criticism of Álvarez at 168 pounds, if there even are additional ones, is his refusal to face David Benavidez. That said, the criticism is legitimate and considerable.

Álvarez is 35, and he’s been fighting as a professional for 20 years. The question of his current place in the pantheon of Mexican fighting gods rests largely on the perception of his favorable promotional and alphabet boosts. Beyond those things, Álvarez has one of the strongest overall ledgers of any fighter in recent years.

Referring directly to the 2011 list of greatest Mexican fighters, the order could be rearranged some but the top seven or eight fighters are nearly impossible to move. Juan Manuel Márquez should likely be bumped up a few spots, while Ricardo López, who looked spectacular but never unified or held a signature victory, could be nudged downward. Álvarez’s victories over Puerto Rican rival Miguel Cotto and middleweight nemesis Gennadiy Golovkin combined with unifying multiple divisions earn him a spot at the very bottom of the top 10.

Contrary to popular belief, accomplishments can’t be undone. The most embarrassing and terrible losses at the end of a career do not “ruin a fighter’s legacy,” regardless of how catchy the phrase is or how many times it’s been repeated. Most fighters carry on longer than they should and a visible slide is inevitable.

That said, a loss to Terence Crawford on September 13 would make it incredibly easy to dismiss many of Álvarez’s accomplishments as lucky, coincidental, carefully guided or just weak. Unlike some of his other fights, Álvarez has many of the most important advantages going in, and a loss opens the door to a systematic teardown of his career.

Maybe they’d have a point; none of the other great Mexican fighters on the list was handed a defeat near their prime by a smaller fighter moving up a few divisions. That’s an uphill battle for Crawford, though. As it stands, Álvarez deserves his spot among his country’s greatest fighters.