Lederman sees 152 lb. catch-weight not hurting Canelo against Mayweather

By Boxing News - 06/04/2013 - Comments

canelo112By Dan Ambrose: Harold Lederman, the unofficial ringside scorer for HBO, says he doesn’t see WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) being hurt by the 2 extra pounds that he’ll have to take off to get down to the 152 pound catch-weight for his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) on September 14th.

Lederman thinks Canelo is young enough at 22 to where it won’t hurt him like it would another fighter. Of course, there’s no telling whether Canelo will actually make the 152 lb. catch-weight because the last time he fought at a catch-weight two years ago in his fight against welterweight Matthew Hatton for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title, Canelo came in nearly two pounds OVER the catch-weight limit.

Of course the fight went ahead, but it just shows that just because there’s a catch-weight involved in this fight doesn’t mean that Canelo make that weight. He’s getting millions for this fight, so he can definitely afford whatever penalty he’s given.

Lederman said to thaboxingvoice.com “2 lbs., it really shouldn’t make a difference when you’re 23-years-old like Canelo will be in a few months.”

Lederman is right. 2 pounds is nothing for someone Canelo’s age, which is why Mayweather should have held out for 147 and been ready to walk away from the fight negotiations. I’d like to think that a younger Mayweather would have never agreed to fight Canelo at 152, which was the first offer by Team Canelo, and instead would have held out for 147 or nothing.

If Mayweather ends up losing to a rehydrated 175 lb. Canelo on September 14th, then you blame him for not pressuring Canelo to come down to 147 and for not pushing for a rehydration limit of 160 to keep it fair.

Lederman thinks Oscar De La Hoya way back in 2007 was a better fighter still at that point in his career to where Canelo is now. That’s kind of interesting because De La Hoya was a part time fighter at that state in his career and was nearly a shot fighter.



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