Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Saul Canelo Alvarez: Is it a coin toss?

By Boxing News - 06/03/2013 - Comments

alvarez1By Gerardo Granados: Once the veteran lion king and boxing legend WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. was not considered the top pound for pound boxer and on times he could have been the underdog going in to a fight, but now he is the man to defeat and all the pressure is on his side.

On the other corner Saul Canelo Alvarez is a young lion king who has not proved himself against any one as skilled as Money but his huge charisma has allowed him a shot to make history next September 14th in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.

A friend of mine asked me if Canelo was a huge underdog as Robert Guerrero was against Floyd. I responded to him that I had it 2 – 1 for Mayweather Jr. to win by decision. He looked back at me surprised and said “no way, the kid doesn’t have the experience to be so competitive”. Well if the kid doesn’t have the tools to defeat Floyd then the fight will be very disappointing but I can assure you that it will be a great fight to watch.

Money is the master of defensive boxing style, a superb counterpuncher and a genius to promote himself. But, he is not invincible and his style although difficult to decipher might have turned a little predictable. He will wait for his opponent to attack him then counter with right straight left hook or upper cut; grab when in close; push off his opponent and on times use his elbow to protect himself; his left check hook is fast; his shoulder roll cross guard to block punches, moves his body back and on times gives his back, takes off the balance of the opponent by moving to the left, etc.

After seventeen years can a dog learn new tricks?

Canelo is quite an enigma because of his age but you can bet he has stamina issues to deal with. The kid has improved a lot but his major prime pray to the date is Austin Trout so you can´t be too impress about it.

Alvarez has great power and has improved his defensive skills but his offense is not too impressive although is effective and has good speed and jab. He is not the traditional Mexican brawler that pressures going straight forward taking three or four punches to land one so Floyd might end up in engaging a real challenge.

Money edges Canelo in almost everything but youth, hunger, size and power. Also the two pounds catch weight might affect the kid on the late rounds if he struggles to make weight. But being Alvarez a more of tactician Mexican boxer puncher he might level thing up.

De la Hoya was simply too desperate to look good he threw a lot of punches but most of those punches ended blocked or partially blocked. Oscar was too eager and not patient to outbox a boxer and got countered with clean hard shots. Robert Guerrero was simply tailor made for Floyd. Victor Ortiz…. Well we all saw what happen. Ricky Hatton was big pressure straight forward brawler but offered a static blank to be countered. Miguel Angel Cotto was quite successful but always leaved holes to be countered with clean shots.

Floyd is in a no gain situation, if he defeats Canelo there will be no major merit on it because the inexperienced kid had never been tasted before. But if he lose then he is old and past his prime. If Canelo loses he will move on but if he wins then the sky will be the limit for him.

Who had Erik Morales defeated previous stopping Daniel Zaragoza? Who had Ricky Hatton defeated before stopping Kotzia Tszyu? Who had Julio Cesar Chavez Sr defeated before stopping Roger Mayweather? Who had Pernell Whitaker defeated before unanimously decision Azumah Nelson? Who had Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated before stopping Genaro Hernandez? Do the readers remember who had Salvador Sanchez defeated before stopping Danny Lopez? Not because Canelo hasn´t defeated a big name yet it means he can’t do it.

Canelo not only has the power to hurt Floyd, he also has the defensive skills to neutralize his counter attack not as many who just tried to knock out cold an elusive and smart boxer and that is why I give a close betting odd on this fight. But what about the reader, do you believe this fight is a coin toss?



Comments are closed.