By Dan Ambrose: One of the sparring partners that WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) has been using to get ready for his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) next month on September 14th is Shane Mosley Jr., the son of former three division world champion Shane Mosley.
Why Canelo would choose to use the 6’1”, 165 lb. Mosley Jr. to get ready for the 5’8”, 150 lb. Mayweather is anyone’s guess.
Mosley Sr. told RingTV “They’re doing pretty good. He’s sparred with him like four times in Big Bear already, and he’s doing good. Canelo’s been there about two weeks now, maybe.”
It sounds like Canelo might be desperate for sparring partners or else he’s got some strange ideas in how to get ready to face Mayweather.
At the end of the day, it probably doesn’t matter who Canelo spars with, because he’s not going to be able to change what he is as a fighter just by finding guys with similar fighting styles as Mayweather Jr. Is a big [in terms of weight] fighter with tank-like build on a short body, and he doesn’t have the frame to fight on the move or to fight hard for three minutes of every round.
He’s got a classic stocky mesomorph type of a body, and it’s made to fight hard for long stretches of time or for him to move around the ring for three minutes.
Canelo is built to fight at a leisurely pace, get quick knockouts and then go home. His flat-footed fighting style will also hurt him against Mayweather, because he won’t have an opponent with his feet stuck in flypaper like the other guys that Golden Boy has been steadily feeding Canelo.
Mayweather is not the type of opponent that you feed a flat-footed fighter like Canelo. You Canelo types guys like Matthew Hatton and Josesito Lopez. In other words, guys that come straight at him or who just stand there taking head shots all night. Mayweather Jr. isn’t made to order for Canelo like the guys that Golden Boy has been digging up and putting in with him.
It probably doesn’t matter that Canelo is sparring a guy that has nothing in common with Mayweather, because Canelo won’t be able to stop being Canelo just because he gets the perfect sparring partner. In other words, no will be able to change what he is as a fighter and fix his limitations that are built in and beyond repair.
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