By Dan Ambrose: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) says that he’s open to facing unbeaten superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26 KOs) in a rematch, but that the conditions for the rematch would be different from the first fight. In other words, Canelo won’t agree to fight Mayweather at another catch-weight of 152 pounds like he did in their fight in 2013.
Canelo, who barely makes the 154 pound limit, wasn’t happy that he had to fight Mayweather at 152. It’s unclear if Canelo is blaming his loss to Mayweather on him being slightly drained from matching the 152 pound catch-weight.
Canelo would make a good opponent for Mayweather’s September fight if the 24-year-old Mexican fighter doesn’t start trying to call the shots. Canelo isn’t the position to call the shots, which is why the negotiations might not work out. If Canelo now thinks he’s got the pull after his wins over Alfredo Angulo, Erislandy Lara and James Kirkland, it might be impossible to negotiate a fight between him and Mayweather.
“As far as Mayweather goes, sure, I’m willing to fight anybody,” Canelo said at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night. “But I tell you this much the conditions will be very different.”
Besides the catch-weight that Canelo won’t agree to in a rematch with Mayweather, it’s possible that Canelo will want a larger slice of the revenue in a rematch with Mayweather. Canelo hasn’t really done anything since his loss to Mayweather in terms of beating high quality opposition, and his popularity doesn’t seem to have increased to where he can call the shots as far as the purse split goes.
When asked if he would ever fight Mayweather at another catch-weight like the 152 pound catch-weight that he fought him in 2013, Canelo said “Never; never again. That was a hard lesson I had to learn, and I learned it well. So I’ll never do it again.”
Hopefully, Canelo isn’t blaming his loss to Mayweather on him being drained from the catch-weight because that clearly wasn’t the reason that he lost that fight. Canelo could have weighed in at 175, and he still would lost the fight. As it is, he had a huge weight advantage over Mayweather when they stepped inside the ring that night with Canelo weighing in the mid-160s. He didn’t weigh in the 170s like we’ve seen him in other fights, but it wouldn’t have mattered if he had. Canelo would have been too slow on his feet if he weighed his normal weight for the fight, and I think the clowning would have been a lot worse for him.
Since his loss to Mayweather in 2013, Canelo has beaten Alfredo Angulo, Erislandy Lara and James Kirkland. Those aren’t big names and only the Lara fight was a true test, and Canelo’s win over him was controversial. It wasn’t a clear victory in the minds of many boxing fans. Angulo was coming off of a knockout loss to Lara, and Kirkland hadn’t fought in almost two years after gaining a lot of weight. So the only real win that Canelo has had since the Mayweather fight was against Lara, and that was a controversial one. Based on those three weak fights, Canelo hardly deserves a better split of the revenue in a rematch. If anything, it should stay the same as it was before. Canelo isn’t in the driver’s seat and if he doesn’t agree to the purse split that Mayweather wants, then there simply won’t be a fight.
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