LAS VEGAS -- If there has been a theme to the legacy still being written by unified middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez since turning pro 14 years ago this week, it has been a willingness to match himself against the very best in the world at just about every turn.
The Mexican superstar's "dare to be great" persona has helped him acquire dual acknowledgement as the sport's biggest star globally and arguably its top fighter from a pound-for-pound perspective within the absolute prime of his pro career at age 29.
Yet even with Alvarez's reputation for challenging himself, something has seemingly gotten into him over the past 12 months after signing a monstrous 10-fight deal with DAZN worth $365 million and openly feuding with promoter Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy that has seen his boldness tiptoe toward the level of daring to be reckless.
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Asked by media members during Tuesday's grand arrival in Las Vegas what would be his "great white whale" in terms of career accomplishments -- a goal so crazy that challenges him to go after it -- and Alvarez didn't hesitate to bring up the idea of one day competing for a title at cruiserweight.
"It sounds very crazy but you never know," Alvarez said with a smile.
One year ago, comments like this from Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) might be deemed as nothing more than bravado or poppycock. But so would the idea of Alvarez moving up two weight divisions this weekend to willingly take on one of the sport's most dangerous punchers.
At this point, it's hard to put any goal past Alvarez, even if it includes becoming the first fighter to turn pro at 154 pounds and go on to win a title at the 200-pound limit. That dream will need to wait, however, as Alvarez readies for Saturday's showdown against WBO light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena (DAZN, 9 p.m. ET).
The question of "how exactly did we get here?" is somewhat of a loaded one.
Any critic of Alvarez might bring up that the fighter seeking a world title in his fourth division only signed up for this daredevil assignment because his dislike of middleweight rival Gennady Golovkin has reached such a level that he refuses to fight GGG a third time despite a chorus of pleas from fans, DAZN and Golden Boy (which has language in its DAZN deal promising it will deliver the trilogy fight).
Considering the first two Alvarez-Golovkin fights were nothing short of action classics that produced huge pay-per-view numbers and had enough controversy from the scorecards in both fights to warrant a must-see third fight, Alvarez would need to swing big to find a replacement. He did just that in shocking everyone by agreeing to such a dangerous light heavyweight debut.
For all the talk about Kovalev being 36 and in possession of a questionable chin, it's hard not to stop and take full inventory at just how dangerous of a move this is. Even if Kovalev was chosen because he's the deemed the most vulnerable of current 175-pound champions, the fact that he can box so well mixed with his advantages in power and size against Alvarez create so many unknowns entering this creatively matched superfight.
It isn't that what Alvarez is doing is unprecedented. Bernard Hopkins made a similar move from middleweight to capture the light heavyweight championship from Antonio Tarver, and everyone from Manny Pacquiao to Roy Jones Jr. to Sugar Ray Leonard have made impressive leaps up in weight for big fights.
The difference for Alvarez is what he's risking in this era as the sport's biggest brand. Pacquiao used his bold move up in weight as a way to establish himself as a crossover star while Alvarez already is one, yet isn't willing to rest on what he has already accomplished.
It wasn't that long ago Alvarez was considered a potentially small middleweight who lingered around his preferred 155-pound catchweight as the cries for him to move up and face Golovkin followed him over a two-year span. Even Alvarez's one-off at 168 pounds last December when he moved up to claim a secondary super middleweight title against an overmatched Rocky Fielding was seen as nothing more than cherry picking because it was there.
Yet Alvarez continues to push the fences back even farther and challenge himself. He took the baton from Floyd Mayweather as the biggest draw in the sport shortly after their 2013 pay-per-view blockbuster in Alvarez's lone pro defeat and has worked hard at securing a very different legacy.
So why did Alvarez shock just about everyone in going after Kovalev?
"Because he's the best in his division," Alvarez said. "He's one of the best, that's why we chose him, to make history by fighting one of the best."
Alvarez told CBS Sports on Thursday that he never considered the idea of fighting at light heavyweight to be something that's realistic. But he credits his "crazy" trainers -- the father/son duo of Jose "Chepo" and Eddy Reynoso -- with encouraging him that his skills would translate just fine at a higher weight.
One could describe Alvarez's intentions as anything from refreshing to old school. But it's a reminder at how the historically special fighters used to -- and in most cases are supposed to -- behave.
This is the Canelo Alvarez era and it's one that's increasingly being defined by the kind of boldness that knows no limits. The sport's biggest star isn't done attempting to find out how great he can be and boxing is better because of that.
