Canelo Alvarez has issued a public apology to Lionel Messi and the country of Argentina.
In the aftermath of Saturday's Group C tie between Argentina and Mexico at the Lusail Stadium, footage emerged of Messi appearing to kick a Mexico shirt as he sat in the Argentina dressing room.
The four-weight world champion, a proud Mexican, proceeded to threaten the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner over social media.
He tweeted: "Saw Messi cleaning the floor with our jersey and flag. He should ask God that I don't find him. Just like I respect Argentina, he has to respect Mexico!
Advert
"I'm not talking about the country as a whole, just about the bulls**t that Messi did."
It didn't stop there, either. Canelo Alvarez went on to call Messi's former teammate Sergio Aguero a "hypocrite b*****d" after the former Manchester City and Barcelona forward jumped to the defence of his compatriot.
Aguero defended his friend, saying: "Mr. Canelo, don't look for excuses or problems, surely you don't know about soccer and what happens in a locker room
"The shirts are always on the floor after the games are over due to sweat and then if you see well, he makes the movement to remove the boot and accidentally hits it."
Cesc Fabregas even got involved in the beef before Canelo reacted to a fake Instagram post from Messi's Instagram account, saying: "HDP" which means son of a b**** in Spanish. The tweet was later deleted.
Now, days after the incident, Canelo has apologised for his actions.
He tweeted: "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.
"Every day we learn something new and this time it was my turn."
He added: "I wish both teams much success in their matches today and here we will continue supporting Mexico until the end."
Alvarez certainly got people talking with his initial outburst. UFC fighter Santiago Ponzinibbio quickly jumped to the defence of Lionel Messi.
The welterweight insisted Messi did not disrespect the Mexican flag and claims he's ready to fight to defend his countryman's honour.
He told MMA Fighting: "I was p**sed! No point threatening Messi. Everybody knows Messi’s career. If [Alvarez] doesn’t know he shouldn’t say a thing. It’s normal for players to throw jerseys on the ground, they are all sweaty, but he didn’t do anything disrespectful.
"Everybody that knows Messi knows he’s an impeccable athlete and a very respectful person.
"[Messi] had an excellent match. I was upset. Brother, if you want to fight, I’m ready, but leave Messi be. You mess with Messi, you mess with the entire Argentina. Don’t bother the kid."
Topics: Lionel Messi, Canelo Alvarez, Boxing, Football, Argentina, Football World Cup
Jack Kenmare