Canelo Álvarez Has Apologized to Lionel Messi for His Viral Comments

Canelo Álvarez has apologized to Lionel Messi following a situation that went viral in Argentina’s locker room after its win against Mexico on Saturday.

After Argentina defeated Mexico 2-0 in a pivotal Group C matchup, Messi was seen in the Argentine locker room taking off his cleats that simultaneously moved a Mexican national team jersey on the floor with his foot. 

That prompted the Mexican boxer to threaten the Argentine star on Twitter where he unloaded several tweets, including one that read, “He better ask God not to run into me” in Spanish. The tweet was taken down for violating Twitter rules. 

But now Álvarez says he “got carried away” in his apology to Messi on Twitter ahead of Mexico’s and Argentina’s Group C finales on Wednesday.

“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,” Álvarez tweeted in Spanish. “Every day we learn something new and this time it was my turn.”

“I wish both teams much success in their matches today and here we will continue supporting Mexico until the end,” he added in a reply to the original tweet.  

Messi did not respond to Álvarez’s comments, but several of his former teammates, including Sergio “Kun” Agüero, had come to his defense.

“Mr. Canelo, don’t look for excuses or problems, surely you don’t know about soccer and what happens in a locker room,” Agüero tweeted on Sunday. “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 booty and accidentally hits it.”

Mexico is playing Saudi Arabia while Argentina is taking on Poland to round out Group C action. Neither team has secured a spot in the round of 16 but are looking to win to bolster their respective chances.