"Real men are not afraid to cry" - Fans get emotional over Canelo Alvarez's incredible gesture for young fan suffering from cystic fibrosis

Ahead of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga boxing match this Saturday, the Mexican legend took center-stage in a moment with an emotional suffering from cystic fibrosis. The disease, which leads to impaired clearance of mucus in the lungs, heavily impacts breathing and can lead to respiratory failure.

The fan, however, has not allowed his condition to stop him from boxing. In fact, he credits Alvarez as his source of inspiration and as someone whose example helped him a lot. Naturally, when the fan met Alvarez, he broke down in tears, leading to an embrace between the two.

Check out the embrace between Canelo Alvarez and a tearful fan:

Alvarez comforted him, encouraging him to cry before gifting him a signed t-shirt and hat and urging him to continue training. ESPN Ringside shared the moment on Instagram and drew a whole host of reactions from fans in the comment section.

One fan expressed heartache over the long-term complications that cystic fibrosis poses while being simultaneously gleeful that the fan managed to share a moment with an all-time great in Alvarez.

"That disease is so heartbreaking, apparently it's terminal and your life span is so short, I'm glad he got to experience this"

Another fan also spoke positively of the embrace.

"Moments like these really put life into perspective"

Others praised Alvarez for encouraging his fans to be open about crying.

"Real men are not afraid to cry"

This sentiment was echoed throughout the comment section.

"Canelo Is A Man with Big Heart"

A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:

Fan reactions to Canelo Alvarez's moment with a fan

The fan will almost certainly be watching closely as Alvarez defends his WBA, WBO, and WBC super middleweight titles against Berlanga this Saturday.

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Canelo Alvarez had a more outlandish fan interaction just a few days prior

After the pre-fight press conference for his Edgar Berlanga matchup, Canelo Alvarez took to the stage to address the crowd. While being interviewed, the Mexican star was told that a fan requested that he impregnate his wife, to which Alvarez said the following:

"He's a smart man."

Check out Alvarez's response to a wild fan request:

A clip of the incident has made the rounds on X/Twitter and was shared by renowned boxing journalist Michael Benson.