BOXING
Canelo Álvarez forgives Mexican national anthem gaffe in Las Vegas
Camila Fernández performed ‘Mexicanos, al grito de Guerra’, the national anthem in Las Vegas but made a mistake with signing the wrong lyrics.
With a record of 66 fights, 62 wins, 39 knockouts, 2 losses and 2 draws, Saúl Canelo Álvarez defeated the North American of Puerto Rican origin Edgar Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The Mexican won on unanimous decision to retain his WBC, WBO and WBA super middleweight belts, but during the presentation ceremony before the start of the main event, there was an incident that raised a few eyebrows and prompted comments after the fight. Camila Fernández, the daughter of the singer Alejandro Fernández, performed the Mexican national anthem (Mexicanos, al grito de Guerra) but made a mistake by signing one line of the lyrics wrong.
Álvarez Barragán, came out to give his opinion about the moment when Camila Fernández, changed the lyrics by singing “Profane with their foot your land” instead of “Profane with their foot your soil”.
It caused quite a stir on social media, but Canelo couldn’t see what all the fuss was about, and said, “She did very well and I am grateful to her - that she took the time, that she came to represent our country”.
“That’s how it is - one makes mistakes and we are all human beings, don’t take it so personally, we make mistakes. I am grateful to her for taking the time, for coming to represent our country, Mexico, singing our national anthem, that is what we should be grateful for, it is a great responsibility and any of you (the press) who get into the ring wouldn’t even know the first paragraph,” expressed the Mexican boxer as he left the T-Mobile Arena.
Who is Camila Fernandez?
The 26-year-old is the daughter of pop singer Alejandro Fernández and granddaughter of the historic Mexican singer Vicente Fernández. She has been tipped for a bright future in the music industry. Both Alex Fernández and ‘Chente’ Fernández and now his granddaughter have performed the Mexican national anthem before a Canelo fight.
It’s not clear whether Camila Fernandez could be fined for failing to respectfully honor the national anthem, even it was a genuine mistake. Article 57 of the Law on the National Coat of Arms, Flag and Anthem stipulates that anyone who alters the lyrics faces arrest or a hefty fine of 250 times the minimum salary which currently stands at 248.93 pesos per day.
Vicente Fernández’s granddaughter didn’t make any comments about her performance nor did she respond to any of the criticism on social media.