Canelo Alvarez Claims He Would Defeat Floyd Mayweather Jr If Both Were In Their Prime!
WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (55-1-2, 37KOs) currently sits atop of the boxing world. The four-division champion will be taking on Billy Joe Saunders Saunders (30-0, 14KOs) on May 8, where he’ll attempt to collect the WBO title and move one step closer to becoming the first Mexican undisputed champion and the first undisputed super middleweight champion in boxing history. However, his attention has been turned back to an old foe; Floyd Mayweather Jr!
RELATED: Canelo Alvarez: “”No Mexican Has Won All The Belts At 168! I Will Make History!”
THE MAYWEATHER EFFECT!
He told Graham Bensinger the following about how a prime for prime fight would play out between him and Mayweather.
“If we were both at our prime, our best prime, he’d have nothing to do with me. Nothing! I’d knock him out.”
Back in September of 2013, Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather did battle. At the time, the unified super middleweight champion was not only an unbeaten rising star, he was also the WBC, WBA “regular” and Ring magazine junior middleweight champion.
Although many hung their hats on the 23 year-old to give the brash living legend his first loss, Mayweather would easily out-box and decision Alvarez to a controversial majority decision. As many boxing pundits did not have the Mexican winning more than four our of twelve rounds, the 114-114 scorecard turned in by former judge, CJ Ross is still seen as one of the more controversial scorecards in boxing history. This ultimately led to Ross immediately retiring as a judge.
Nevertheless, the loss would see him surrender his titles and suffer the only loss thus far in his career. Obviously Alvarez is prideful guy but is his pride overshadowing logic?
SLOW YOUR ROLL!
That’s right you read that correctly. Many people will claim he’s delusional, some will say he’s just being stubborn and most his fans would agree with his statement. But the truth of the matter is that if both men were in their prime, Mayweather would still win just as easily as he did in 2013!
Let me remind you that when these two fought, Mayweather was 36 years-old. Although he was still able to clearly outbox, outsmart and outfight his younger, stronger adversary for 12 rounds, he was still not considered in his prime either. Actually, he was considered to be beyond his prime approaching retirement! As great as Alvarez has become, he simply would not be able to beat a prime sharp-shooting, slippery, elusive, counter-punching master boxer, even at his best!
Also don’t forget, the number of fans who thought Mayweather would lose to the 23 year-old champion came in droves. Many felt the size differential would be a monumental challenge for the 36 year-old to overcome. Although still seen as the favorite by Las Vegas odds, Mayweather did not enjoy the usual overwhelming advantage. This fight, he was a favorite at just -300 which was the lowest number for him since he fought Ricky Hatton six years prior. Therefore, lets not go the route of saying Canelo was “green” or “not ready” as an argument after the fact!
Furthermore, what would be the ideal weight class the two would fight at in their prime? Mayweather is a much smaller man and was arguably his best at junior welterweight. Alvarez didn’t hit his prime until he moved up the middleweight. So this point is probably moot point anyway.
By: Jerrell Fletcher & EJ Williams
