Boxing is not a numbers-driven sport — unless you count the number 0, which propels marketability for those who have that number on the right side of their record. The sample sizes in the Sweet Science are too small, the in-game statistics too nuanced, the chance of one big punch erasing a hundred smaller punches too ever-present.
But Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, boxing's biggest star, sits on the precipice of a pair of rare and meaningful numbers entering his super middleweight championship defense Saturday night in Las Vegas against Jermell Charlo.
Canelo's record stands at 59-2-2 with 39 knockouts. That means he is one win away from 60 and one knockout victory away from 40. In the modern boxing era, in which superstars tend to fight once or twice a year and it's possible to become a first-ballot Hall of Famer with barely 30 fights, the 60/40 club is highly exclusive.
Not a single Hall of Famer whose pro career began in the 2000s is in the club. Only two Hall of Famers whose primes arguably came in the 2000s are members: Wladimir Klitschko (64-5, 53 KOs) and Marco Antonio Barrera (67-7, 44 KOs). Even Manny Pacquiao, who will soon waltz into the Hall in his first year of eligibility, is one KO short at 62-8-2 with 39 KOs.