Canelo: I’m going to win this fight; I’ve visualized it

By Boxing News - 06/24/2013 - Comments

canelo454321By Dan Ambrose: WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) says he’s been picturing himself in his mind beating Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) for years and thinks he’s going to make his daydreams a reality on September 14th when they face each other in real life on Showtime PPV from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Canelo wants to beat Mayweather and do it in a way that leaves no doubt in people’s minds about who the winner is. For that to happen, Canelo is going to have to increase his work rate, move his feet a lot more, throw combinations, and try to keep from gassing out like he did in his fight with Austin Trout last April.

Canelo said today to the press in New York following his press conference with Mayweather, “I’m not going to lose; I’m going to win the fight…I’m strong and the most important thing, I’m intelligent. I’ve had conversations with Oscar [De La Hoya] about which things Floyd isn’t comfortable with in the ring. I want to be the best and I want to be the first person to beat Floyd Mayweather. I’m surprised he took it this year. If you look at Floyd’s last few fights, he’s fought once per year. The most important thing is to win, whichever way, but you have to win clearly. That’s going to be very important and that’s what I plan to do. I visualized this fight for years now, and I’m going to win this fight.”

It’s good that Canelo is visualizing himself beating Mayweather because that’s necessary for a fighter to prepare for a fight. However, every fighter does this, and thus far 44 opponents that have visualized themselves beating Mayweather have been wrong with their fantasy.

Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, Mayweather’s last opponent, saw himself beating Mayweather and he couldn’t entertain the idea of losing to him, yet we saw what happened with Guerrero. He got beaten easily by Mayweather Jr. by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision last May.

Canelo is a different fighter than Guerrero, to be sure, but he’s still the same kind of flat-footed fighter without a lot of hand speed, without the ability to move around the ring, and not even as good as Guerrero in the stamina department. You can make an argument that Guerrero is superior to Canelo in the stamina department and with his ability to throw nonstop combinations.

Canelo can’t do that, and he certainly doesn’t have Guerrero’s stamina. This could be a step down for Mayweather Jr. in terms of a quality opponent because Canelo doesn’t have what Guerrero brought to the table for his fight with Mayweather.

Canelo’s main advantages are his weight and his power. He’s like a middleweight because he rehydrates up to over 170, and he punches hard. Those are Canelo’s advantage. It would be the same if Canelo was fighting someone that was rehydrating to 190 and sporting a 20 pound weight and power advantage over him.



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