Is Floyd Mayweather draining Canelo Alvarez?

By Boxing News - 07/27/2013 - Comments

07MayweatherandCanelointerviewsIMG_3846(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Eric Johnson: Fight fans have been very critical of the catch weight applied for the Mayweather x Canelo clash that will take place at the MGM Grand on September 14th. They’ve called Mayweather a hypocrite, seeing that he has been so outspoken about the many catch weight bouts that fallen rival Manny Pacquiao has been involved in. There are some key differences and intangibles that the Mayweather x Canelo fight contains that many of Manny Pacquiao’s catch weight bouts didn’t.

For starters, Floyd Mayweather is a Welterweight fighter. A small welterweight who doesn’t rehydrate much because he is disciplined and gets the most out of every pound. Evident in his first fight with Jose Luis Castillo which was held at 135 pounds. Castillo made weight at 134 ½ pounds and Mayweather at 134 pounds, both just below the lightweight limit. However, on fight night Floyd Mayweather rehydrated to just 138 ½ pounds, while Castillo rehydrated to a Welterweight at 147 ½ pounds. In Mayweather’s fight against Carlos Baldomir, Baldomir and Mayweather weighed in at 147 pounds, and 146 pounds respectively. However, on fight night Baldomir rehydrated to a massive 162 pounds, and Mayweather to 149 pounds. While Mayweather’s work ethic and discipline are gifts that maximize his conditioning in the ring, they also leave him vulnerable to being the smaller man every fight. Long gone are the days of fighters weighing in on fight night, which leads to many fighters fighting out of their weight classes, thus going into fights with huge weight advantages. Essentially this means Mayweather goes into most his fights the smaller man.

Manny Pacquiao however, rehydrates very well as he doesn’t have the same work ethic that Mayweather has. In his fight against David Diaz, he weighed in just below the lightweight limit at 134 ½ pounds. However on fight night, he stepped into the ring 147 pounds. In his fight against Oscar De La Hoya which was held at a 145 pound catch weight, Pacquiao and The Golden Boy weighed in at 142 and 145 pounds respectively. However, on fight night Pacquiao came in at 148 ½ pounds and De La Hoya at 147. Here, the public was given the storyline of a man jumping two weight classes to fight a fighter who was significantly bigger. When in reality, Pacquiao had been making the Welterweight limit long before he fought in the welterweight division. He had been coming in the ring a Welterweight since he was fighting as a lightweight. He actually had a weight advantage on De La Hoya coming into the fight. He was a healthy 148 ½ pounds, a weight that he had been comfortable at. De La Hoya however, had not fought at welterweight since his fight against Arturo Gatti, nearly 8 years prior. Add that to the fact that he only rehydrated two pounds over night, and you have an uneven match that was sold to the public as “David vs. Goliath” when in actuality it was “Super Saiyan David vs. Malnourished Goliath”. Floyd Mayweather was outweighed in his 154 pound fight against Oscar De La Hoya. Pacquaio actually weighed more than De La Hoya, in a catch weight that was applied to give Pacquiao somewhat of an easier time dealing with a bigger man. Ironic.

Now on September 14th, Floyd Mayweather will step into the ring against Mexican sensation Canelo Alvarez being fought at a catch weight of 152 pounds. The question is, is Floyd Mayweather really draining Canelo Alvarez? The simple answer is no. Canelo Alvarez weighed in at 153 ½ pounds against Austin Trout for their April 20th bout, then proceeded to rehydrate to 172 pounds on fight night. If he can comfortably make 153.5, when no catch weight is applied, then 152 should be no difficult task. The problem is that Canelo isn’t a true Light Middleweight, he’s arguably a big middleweight, or an average sized Super Middleweight. I’m not trying to discredit his accomplishments, I find him to be very talented, but I’m merely stating my opinion, and what some numbers show. Middleweight bruiser Gennady Golovkin came into his fight against Grzegorz Proksa weighing 168 pounds, four pounds lighter than Canelo did against Austin Trout. Also, Super Middleweight Champion Andre Ward came into his fight against Chad Dawson weighing 176 pounds, only four pounds heavier than Canelo did against Trout. To remind you, Andre Ward fought as a light heavyweight in the 2004 Athens Olympics. He is widely considered a big Super Middleweight. If he can outweigh Canelo by only four pounds in some of their most recent fights, that says a lot. Along with the fact that Ward’s body is fully developed, and Alvarez’ is still maturing due to his young age.

There is a huge difference in asking a young man to lose a pound and a half more than he did for his last fight 5 months earlier, than it is asking a veteran fighter to lose 15 pounds to fight at a weight he hasn’t fought at in nearly a decade. It is widely known that whether in boxing or in life, cutting weight as you get older is no easy task. Floyd Mayweather has never weighed more than 151 pounds at a pre-fight weigh in, which was in his second and most recent fight at Light Middleweight against then champion and #1 Light Middleweight, Miguel Cotto. Seeing that he likely won’t rehydrate much, he will be going to into this fight the smaller man, and by a significant margin. Tune in September 14th on SHOWTIME PPV, for what is sure to be a modern boxing classic. A true, authentic, and legitimate “David vs. Goliath” matchup. Two highly skilled undefeated fighters meeting in the square circle to match brains.



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