The illustrious boxing career of Canelo Alvarez could have all remained a dream had he not been able to prove his innocence amid a surprise death.

The Mexican is one of the most prominent boxers in the world right now and his name carries a lot of weight in the sport.

When he was 23 years old, though, it all could have gone extremely differently for him.

Why was Canelo Alvarez blamed for a death?

As 2013 became 2014, Canelo Alvarez was accused of being partly to blame for the death of sparring partner Javier Jauregui.

At that time, the boxer from Guadalajara had been a professional boxer for five years and was still undefeated.

His victories already marked him out as a boxing talent at the age of 23 and he had a lucrative exclusive contract with Mexican television station Televisa.

However, some media speculated that Canelo Alvarez had beaten Javier Jauregui during a training session, which saw the other fighter end up in hospital, where he was diagnosed with a stroke that later led to his death.

The TV y Novelas show on the Televisa network reported that Jauregui's stroke had been caused by a beating from Canelo during one of his training sessions.

It was reported that the sparring exercise had been excessive and that the 40-year-old boxer had received a huge number of blows from Canelo.

The same show allowed Jauregui's widow to speak, but she denied the claims and confirmed that her husband's death was due to "a congenital condition called cerebral aneurysm".

So enraged was Canelo Alvarez by the manslaughter claims that he broke ties with Televisa.

He had actually paid for Jauregui's funeral and even delayed a trip in order to attend the service.

In the end, he was not tried for involuntary manslaughter and was able to focus on remaining in he boxing elite.

In September, Canelo will have an epic third fight against Gennady Golovkin.