By Michael Turturice: I have spent some good quality time watching the hype leading up to this fight; I’ve also spent the last dozen years watching Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight. In fact if I hear “HARD WORK AND DEDICATION” come out of Mayweather’s one more time I might just split in two.
I’m not going to say that Money is not at the top of the boxing food chain or that he has spent the last 5 years ducking PAC or that his latest target will be his downfall. But I have noticed a few little things worth writing about.
First Canelo, yes he is big, I mean real big…and strong. But what pops out to me is the way he throws his combinations, sharp, fast and unpredictable moving from up top back to the body with an odd yet poetic flow. His power has been well documented and what I see is that he has a long throw, meaning he fires past is target almost like a wrecking ball. He is not content to just make contact; he wants to punch a hole in you. Trust me when I say facing a fighter with this type of punch can wear you down and make you focus on the pain of the strike rather than your own game plan. Canelo is surprising calm in the ring; this will be tested by Mayweather early and often during the fight. I say that because in Money’s last fight Guerrero had a good game plan with countering to the body until he became frustrated. If Canelo can stay focused for all 12 rounds he will have the chance to land something meaningful. If you doubt this just watch round 2 from the Mosley fight. Money was out on his feet from a terrific right hand and Mosley had a chance change history but got to ramped up, he needed to settle down to finish him off. If Canelo gets this same opportunity he will need to remain calm.
Now Money Mayweather. We all know he is great; arguably the greatest of this generation and all good things must come to an end. With Mayweather I see his abilities slipping ever so slightly. He hurt his right hand during the Guerrero fight and complained to his corner about the pain he was in. Well if you watch the fight with that in mind you can see that he all but stopped laying the right hand out there and used his footwork to finish the fight. I say he was so far ahead on the cards by that time he could have gone to Subway for a foot long and still got the win. We all know deep inside that Money will not be able to really hurt Canelo with one punch. His right hand is a vital part of his skill set, if feels pain in that hand early this fight will become allot more even. Mayweather is a world class athlete, his stamina is pure magic and in my view he will need it to stay away from Canelo. Money has found himself on the ropes in every one of his last 5 fights; he cannot make that mistake with this guy. No ring rust excuses in line for this one if he loses this one it will be on Canelo’s performance alone. Mayweather will be the smarter fighter that night, his years of experience and the countless hours he has trained will serve him well. It’s hard to discount his ring brilliance.
Prediction – Mayweather by Split Decision
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