CANELO ALVAREZ has helped pay for a 17-year-old fan to undergo a successful lung transplant.
The pound-for-pound king revealed to his 8.4million Instagram followers he wanted to ensure fellow Mexican David Antollin’s ‘miracle’ could become a reality.
He posted a five-minute video in late January which has been viewed more than 2.2m times.
Alvarez decided to help David after the teen and his family started a campaign called ‘Pulmones para Antolin’ (Lungs for Antolin).
David was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis which deteriorated and led to him urgently needing a lung transplant when his family decided to launch the fundraiser.
Local media said ‘Lungs for Antolin’ had managed to get some money for the young boy when Canelo came across David’s difficult situation and decided to help.
The boxing champ said he did not enjoy posting videos of himself helping others in need ‘because when you act from the heart, there is no need to make these types of videos’.
However, he went on to add he wanted to take a moment to encourage people to help others in need explaining that ‘it is not a matter of having money or not having money’.
Canelo, 30, said: “I am going to put my grain of sand to support David and have his miracle come true.
“The point of this video is to tell anyone watching this that you can also help, you can make miracles happen too. Don’t wait for others to do it for you.”
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He added people ‘can make a big difference with a small amount’ explaining that if everybody who watched videos of David on social media had donated 50 cents, David’s miracle would have already come true.
David’s father posted a video last weekend announcing that David had successfully received his lung transplant at St Joseph’s Hospital in Arizona.
The boy’s father said he is recovering well and has been extubated but is still under heavy medication following his surgery.
However, he added that he has already taken his first breath with his new lungs and his first words were: “This feels so good.”
Alvarez, who holds the WBA, WBC and The Ring magazine super-middleweight belts, will return to action when he faces WBO champ Billy Joe Saunders on May 8.
