By Dan Ambrose: WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s trainer Chepo Reynoso thinks Floyd Mayweather Jr. is about to be dethroned from his kingship by Canelo on September 14th, and he sees Canelo moving forward to become a legendary fighter.
It’s going to be extremely difficult for the 22-year-old red-haired Canelo to live up to Chepo’s expectations because he looked to be completely tapped out in putting out every ounce of his ability in his last fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout last April, and Canelo really didn’t show that he was any better than Trout.
If the idea is that Canelo is going to become the king, then he should be able to easily beat guys instead of getting victories that aren’t conclusive.
Reynoso said to esnewsreporting “His [Mayweather] kingship has ended. It’s time for Canelo to step up and be a legend.”
Can Canelo become a legend if he beats Mayweather? I don’t know. If Canelo wins, but has a weight advantage of 20 pounds on the night of the fight, will he really be given full credit for the win?
Mayweather is a fighter that started his career at super featherweight and he slowly moved up to welterweight. Last year, he moved up briefly to beat WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto to win his title, but let’s be clear about this: Mayweather is not a junior middleweight.
If Canelo is out-weighing Mayweather by 20 pounds on September 14th and wins the fight; do you give him credit for that win and label as a legend, as Chepo is talking about, or do you see him as a fighter that is barely making 154 and who really should be fighting at middleweight against guys his own size.
To me, a legend is someone that fights guys at in their own weight class or who fights guys heavier than him and beats them. I haven’t see Canelo fighting too many guys from the junior middleweight division, and I definitely haven’t seen Canelo fight anyone 20 pounds heavier than him.
How would Canelo do fighting someone 20 pounds heavier than him? Canelo vs. Adonis Stevenson, Andre Ward, Sergey Kovalev or Nathan Cleverly; those would be fights where Canelo would be proving he’s a legend if he were to take them, but fighting guys potentially 20 pounds lighter than him at welterweight like Mayweather, I don’t see that as the stuff of legends.
Comments are closed.