(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) By Dan Ambrose: Instead of the 152 lb. catch-weight hurting WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) for his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) on September 14th, Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya believes that it’ll help Canelo by making him faster than he would be if the fight were held at the normal 154 lb. weight limit for their junior middleweight title bout.
It’s unclear why a mere 2 pounds would make Canelo any faster than he was when he weighed in at 153 lbs. for his last fight against Austin Trout, and then promptly rehydrated up to 172 lbs. after the weigh-in last April, but this is what De La Hoya believes.
De La Hoya said to RingTV, “I think it [the 152 lb. catch-weight] is probably going to play to Canelo’s advantage. Fighting at 152 is going to be no problem making it for Saul. The way it benefits him is not only will he work harder, but he’ll be faster in the ring. He won’t be carrying that extra weight.”
I fail to see how Canelo being potentially one pound lighter than he was when he last weighed in will result in more speed than he was in his last fight against Trout. It seems to be if Canelo weighs in at 152, he won’t be much better off than he was when he weighed in at 153 for his last fight. How is one pound going to magically turn Canelo into a speed demon? He’s still likely to rehydrate up to near or over 170 lbs. when he steps inside the ring with Mayweather.
If De La Hoya thinks Canelo will see that catch-weight of 152 and be worried enough about to trim down to 160 lbs. for the fight, then I think De La Hoya’s dreaming. I don’t Canelo CAN fight at 160 anymore. If he does trim down from 172 to 160 for this fight, he’s going to be weak because you don’t lose 12 pounds of muscle and retain your strength.
Canelo was not fat at all for his fight against Trout. He was a solid 172, and looked like a shorter light heavyweight. We’ve already seen what happens to fighters when they attempt to lose muscle to fight at lighter weights; it tends to mess them up, and cause them to be weak and get beaten up. We saw that with Roy Jones Jr., we saw that with Chad Dawson and we saw that with Chris Byrd. If Canelo’s fighting weight has been in the upper 160s to low 170s, he’s not going to be able to trim down much without sacrificing strength.
I think De La Hoya’s thought of Canelo being faster may not happen. The catch-weight probably won’t be good for Canelo, because he’s barely making 154 as it is. I don’t see it as being fatal for him, but I certainly don’t think he’s going to be faster because of it.
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