(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Babatis Banda: I am neither a boxer nor a boxing trainer but I can say with some accuracy, the factors that will be at play that night, 14th of September 2013. Looking at the strengths and weaknesses for both fighters, it is more logical to draw conclusions from some premise, than to make wild conclusions without basis. It is neither here nor there to just claim that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will beat Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or the other way round, without looking at the factors at play. Here, I will try to look at the major ones at play.
POWER: Alvarez is strong and is a power puncher. Canelo is actually a lot bigger than Mayweather and he is heavy handed. The size of his arms is near to that of a heavy weight. His knockout ratio is impressive and is indicative of this power. On the other hand, Mayweather is not a heavy handed fighter. He is not known for his power though he has decent and sometimes, underrated power. Mayweather’s knock out ratio is just about 60%, indicative of his decent power, but certainly not overwhelming power. Canelo has an advantage in this department.
SKILL: They say Canelo is a boxer/puncher. The percentage ratio of this mix, I am not really sure but the impression is that these are well balanced. The consensus is that Canelo is very decent skill-wise. Mayweather is definitely a very skilled fighter. He is a text book of the art of boxing. The reasoning is that, while he is not a power puncher or a knock-out artist, Floyd has reigned supreme for so many years without a loss. It can only be his skills that have preserved him. If it were a tool box, Floyd’s is well stocked and will pull out what ever manner of a spanner he would require. Floyd definitely has an age here.
ENDUARANCE: A number of occasions, Canelo has really looked drained of his youth. When dragged into the deeper waters, Canelo has showed signs of waning. Mayweather has not looked his age at all in all his fights. He has looked the fresher of the two men in the ring. He is a well-trained athlete, sometimes referred to as a gym rat. Mayweather knows how to pace himself in a fight. I laugh when I hear people talk about Mayweather Pot-shooting his foes. He is simply intelligent, no wasting energy and placing them in the right place each time. A well placed punch has a lasting effect and accumulation of such punches reduces confidence of the other boxer. It has more value than 4 or 5 shoe-shine punches. That’s an area of maturity, remember that.
FOOT-WORK: Canelo is simply flat footed. I doubt he can be able to effectively cut off the ring against Mayweather. Here, the fight will either be won or lost on this account. Since Canelo is bigger, he will have to carry that weight around and it can be tiring. Floyd should avoid standing in front of Canelo and deny him a chance to unload his combinations…..we all know Floyd can move, he has excellent footwork. Floyd can also easily avoid those huge body punches by fighting from the outside…footwork.
It is up to you to see what is going to happen on that night.
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