Ellerbe: Canelo’s in over his head against Mayweather

By Boxing News - 08/29/2013 - Comments

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By Dan Ambrose: Leonard Ellerbe of Mayweather Promotions believes that the 23-year-old red-haired Mexican fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) is taking too big of a step up in competition in his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on September 14th, and he thinks it’s going to be a mismatch in the talent department in “The One” at Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ellerbe isn’t saying that Canelo isn’t a good fighter, because he believes that the WBA/WBC 154 lb. champion is among the best in the sport. It’s just that he’s not in the same class as Mayweather Jr.

Ellerbe said “He’s [Canelo] in over his head. On September 14th, Canelo’s go a problem.”

Mayweather Jr. himself isn’t worried that Canelo will likely come into the fight in the low 170s on September 14th. Mayweather believes that Canelo could be hurt by him putting on a ton of weight after he drains down to make the 152 lb. catch-weight, if Canelo does make the catch-weight, that is. If Canelo chooses to blow off the catch-weight, then he’ll be hit with a steep fine for coming in over the agreed upon limit of 152.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Canelo missed a catch-weight, because he failed to make the catch-weight in his fight against Matthew Hatton in 2011 after they agreed for it to take place at 150. Canelo then came in at 151.8 lbs. The fight still went ahead, but Hatton was much too light for the hulking Canelo, and he ended up taking a beating in that fight.

The funny part about this fight was that Golden Boy Promotions matched Canelo up against a welterweight [Hatton] in fighting for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title. Hatton wasn’t even ranked in the junior middleweight division. Why Canelo wasn’t required to fight at junior middleweight for the vacant WBC 154 lb. title instead of a welterweight is anyone’s guess.

For me, it cheapened the fight. If you’re a junior middleweight, then why are you fighting a FRINGE welterweight contender like Hatton for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title, and why are you failing to make the catch-weight?

Mayweather Jr. said this about the prospects of him fighting a much heavier Canelo on September 14th: “It’s not about the weight. It’s about the skills. When it’s all said and done, the skills pay the bills.”

Mayweather is right. We just saw a huge Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. get beaten by Sergio Martinez last September, and Chavez Jr. looked like a cruiserweight after rehydrating from an emaciated looking 160 pounds. Chavez Jr. put a ton of weight on after rehydrating, but the weight seemed to slow him down. No doubt this was likely the negative effects of putting on too much weight too quickly after having taken a week to dehydrate down to 160.



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