Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez has publicly apologized for threatening Argentina’s Lionel Messi on Twitter following Mexico’s 2-0 loss to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup earlier this week.
“In these last few days I got carried away by the passion and love I have for my country and I made some comments that were out of order,” Alvarez tweeted in Spanish on Wednesday. “I want to apologize to Messi and to all the people of Argentina. Every day we learn something new and this time, it was my turn.”
Alvarez, who is from Guadalajara, Mexico, didn’t threaten Messi over Mexico’s loss. He was actually upset about a video he’d seen posted on Twitter after the loss that appeared to show Messi kicking a Mexico jersey that was on the ground in the locker room. It appeared to be accidental, but Alvarez didn’t think so.
“Did you see Messi cleaning the floor with our shirt and flag????” Alvarez tweeted.
“He better pray to God that I don’t find him!!” Alvarez added in another tweet. “Just like I respect Argentina, he has to respect Mexico! I’m not talking about the country as a whole, just about the bulls*** that Messi pulled.”
Several of Messi’s former Argentina teammates (as well as many others on Twitter) tried to explain that Messi was just trying to take off his shoes and accidentally toed a Mexico jersey, which was on the floor, along with all the other sweaty jerseys.
It looks like that message got through and Alvarez realized he’d let his emotions get the better of him after Mexico’s loss. And thankfully, since Alvarez didn’t actually beat the ever-loving crap out of Messi, there’s no harm done.