Canelo Alvarez revealed the level of disdain he had for Gennadiy Golovkin during an uncharacteristically candid interview that debuted Wednesday on YouTube.

The Mexican icon informed Graham Bensinger during a wide-ranging discussion that he wanted to “cut” Golovkin’s “head off” after Golovkin repeatedly called him a cheater and a liar once Alvarez failed two performance-enhancing drug tests in February 2018. The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Alvarez for six months because he tested positive for clenbuterol, which Alvarez has consistently claimed came from eating contaminated meat in his home country of Mexico.

The superstar’s suspension caused a fourth-month postponement of his second fight against Golovkin. Alvarez won their 12-round middleweight championship rematch by majority decision in September 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“I had very difficult months because I was accused of having done something that they called doping, and it wasn’t doping,” Alvarez told Bensinger, who often interviews athletes and other celebrities for his channel. “It was a very low percentage. Meat, all meat here, has clenbuterol. If you eat a piece of meat here, you go and get tested, you’re going to test positive for clenbuterol. But that’s not doping.

“And it was very difficult for me. It was very difficult, but it was always in my mind. I just have to win. I just have to beat this a$$hole. I just have to beat him. … And it started out as my worst year. And I ended it as my best year.”

Bensinger then asked Alvarez about the inflammatory comments made by Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs), who fought Alvarez to a controversial split draw in September 2017 at T-Mobile Arena.

“I am going to just really beat his f------ face in,” Alvarez recalled. “That’s what I said. I think that I’ve never been disrespectful to my rivals, or any of that, because you have to be respectful always. But he was one of the persons who I have most wanted to cut their head off.”

Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) has since won world titles in the super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. The WBA/WBC super middleweight champion is scheduled to face England’s Billy Joe Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs), the WBO champ, in a 12-round, 168-pound title unification match May 8 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Three years later, he still doesn’t feel he has anything to prove after failing two PED tests prior to his rematch with Golovkin.

“That’s what I’m saying,” Alvarez said. “I didn’t have to prove that to anyone. These aren’t steroids. What happened was not steroids. They’re not catalogued as steroids. After what happened to me, they made it legal, a certain legal percentage [of clenbuterol]. Because a lot exists.”

The 30-year-old Alvarez also expressed frustration with the media regarding how he was treated during his PED ordeal.

“I think that most people, most media, whether you explain it to them or not, they’re not going to understand you ever,” Alvarez said. “They’re always going to f--- you over. So, I never really worried about explaining it to them, or whether they understood me.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.