After turning professional at 15, Canelo Alvarez was taught an early lesson by a wily old Mexican fighter with a journeyman career of only eight wins.
Since the 2006 clash, Canelo has been in the ring with the best after learning his trade in super-fast time. But few know about the lowly draw at the beginning of his exceptional world title run, amassing four divisions.
When pitted against Jorge Alberto Cabrera Juárez, a teenage Canelo boasted a record of four wins, having turned professional at that tender age eight months before.
His record now reads an impressive 59-2-2. Canelo’s only losses came against stellar opposition.
The first was Floyd Mayweather in 2013. The second was Dmitry Bivol nine years later. However, Canelo has a distinct stalemate that is joined by a draw with Gennadiy Golovkin from 2017.
Canelo Alvarez draws early bout
If you look closely at his record, you’ll catch a four-round draw from a contest with the little-known Jorge Juárez.
How this solid young welterweight had been held to a stalemate so early on was startling, especially against someone like Juarez. But considering he began boxing grown men before finishing school, Canelo could be forgiven for having an off night.
Either that or a tough official who wanted to give Canelo something to think about.
Juarez was many years Canelo’s senior at the time. Amazingly, he somehow came away without a reverse to the young contender. Unfortunately for the Tijuana native, the draw wouldn’t be a career-defining result.
Reflecting in an interview with ESPN some years later, Juarez recalled their fight by saying: “They brought me in to read him, to test him, but it ended up that we were almost alone in the arena.
“There were no people left because Hector Velazquez’s feature fight had finished, so it was practically just the judges, the referee, and us.
“That kid, because he was still a kid, he threw his right hand at me with all his force. He was a one-hit fighter, and the truth is, he was strong.
“But he got tired in the second round. I started to get my hands in there, and at the end, they had to make a decision.”
Jorge Juarez says he won
He continued by recalling the reading out of the scores.
“I felt I had won at the time, but they called it a draw (37-39, 39-37, 38-38). They favored his youth and desire.
“The fight was hard-fought. He was a bit of a novice, but we got it on good. I had already had a lot of fights with tough rivals.
“I was 27 years old, and he was like 16 [in fact 15, not 16 until one month later].
“At the time, that fight didn’t mean anything to me because I never thought he would thrive the way he is doing now.
“I never thought that people would end up admiring him the way they do now, which is why now this is a story,” he added.
Sadly, Juarez struggled in the paid ranks after facing Canelo and retired in 2011. Five wins from twenty-one bouts in the half-decade that followed led to retirement.
Juarez launched a 2015 comeback four years later but lost all nine contests. The run included a first-round knockout at the hands of current star Jaime Munguia.
For Juarez, that night in 2006 will forever be his claim to fame in the squared circle. It will be a story he can tell his grandchildren about in the future.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer.
