Usyk and Canelo Alvarez held a joint training session in Spain ahead of the October show in Riyadh

Aleksandr Usyk and Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez held a joint training session at the gym of the Ukrainian boxer, located in the Spanish town of Gandia. The authoritative boxing publication The Ring published footage showing Usyk and Alvarez working through grueling running sessions on the tracks together. The joint work of the two top boxers became one of the most talked-about episodes in the Mexican camp's preparation for the October event.

Camp based at Usyk's facility

Alvarez set up his training camp at Usyk's base in Gandia alongside his longtime trainer and manager Eddie Reynoso. Reynoso also brought to Spain another reigning titleholder — world lightweight champion Rafael Espinoza, who joined the training process as well. As a result, the Ukrainian's gym simultaneously hosted two reigning world champions, underscoring Gandia's status as one of the key preparation hubs in world boxing.

October show in Riyadh

The preparation of the star Mexican boxers is timed to the major boxing night "Mexico vs. The Rest of the World," which will take place on October 31 in Riyadh, Arabia. In the main event, Saul Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) will step into the ring against WBC super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs). As part of the same show, Rafael Espinoza (28-0, 24 KOs) will defend his title against mandatory challenger Lorenzo Parry (24-1-1, 18 KOs).

Contradictory data

The provided sources show a difference in emphasis regarding Alvarez's upcoming fights. The main text and the sport.rbc.ua material tie the training camp in Gandia to the title defense against Christian Mbilli on October 31 in Riyadh. At the same time, a number of Russian and Kazakhstani outlets (sports.ru, sports.kz) during the same period discuss and quote Usyk in the context of the "Canelo" — Crawford fight, calling it a "superfight." The discrepancy may be explained by the fact that the references concern different scheduled fights for the Mexican, or by differing media contexts of the publications; the fact of the joint Usyk–Alvarez training session in Spain is, however, uniformly confirmed by all sources.

Context: Usyk on the list of influential figures

It is separately noted that Aleksandr Usyk has been included in the list of the most influential figures in world boxing. The joint work with Alvarez and Espinoza in his own gym once again confirms the Ukrainian's status as one of the central figures of modern boxing, whose base in Spain is becoming a venue for the preparation of elite camps.