Mayweather reacts to Canelo saying he’d beat him in his prime

By Boxing News - 05/07/2021 - Comments

By Matt Lieberman: Floyd Mayweather Jr dismisses Canelo Alvarez’s talk of him beating Floyd Mayweather Jr if the two had fought in their primes back in 2013.

In a recent interview, Canelo said he would have beaten Mayweather on the night if he were fully in his prime like he is now at age 30.

Canelo was 22-years-old when he fought Mayweather, and he wasn’t able to adjust to what the highly experienced Floyd showed him that night.

The then 36-year-old Mayweather Jr defeated Canelo by a 12 round majority decision in their clash eight years ago in September 2013.

Mayweather says that when he fought Canelo, he was no longer in his prime and that he was an “Old man,” yet he still beat the popular Mexican fighter.

Most boxing fans would agree that Mayweather’s prime was when he was fighting at super featherweight [130] from 1998 to 2001.

By the time Mayweather fought Canelo, Floyd was on the wrong side of 30, and clearly not the fighter he’d been when he was knocking everyone out and showing blazing hand & foot speed at 130 over a decade earlier in his career.

Image: Mayweather reacts to Canelo saying he'd beat him in his prime

Mayweather reacts to Canelo’s comments

“It’s crazy that he said that because when Canelo fought me, he was in his prime and when I fought [him], I was an old man,” said Mayweather reacting to Canelo saying that he’d have beaten Floyd in 2013 if he was in his prime like he is now,” said Mayweather.

Mayweather was fighting four divisions above his best weight when he took on Canelo in a clash at junior middleweight in 2013.  That clearly wasn’t Mayweather’s best weight class, and he certainly wasn’t young at 36.

Canelo took the defeat to Mayweather hard because he’s still talking about the fight now after all these years. He’s trying to make sense of what happened to him in that bout, and it’s pointless for him to talk about how things would have been different.

Image: Mayweather reacts to Canelo saying he'd beat him in his prime

Canelo says he’s in his prime now at 30, with him fighting at 168, which means there’s no way that he and Mayweather could have fought if both were in their primes.

Mayweather would have been at 130 and Canelo at 168, which would make it an unfair fight in terms of size.

“Actually, I wasn’t in my prime when I fought Canelo. I was an old man when I fought Canelo just like right here [with the Logan Paul fight].

“A young guy but I’ve got a lot of experience. I’m going to go out there and show him this is the elite level and it’s something totally different,” said Mayweather.

Mayweather and Canelo could have met at the same weight in their primes in an ideal world and fought it out. Canelo could have tried to show that he’s the better fighter.

Unfortunately, that can’t happen, so Canelo needs to come to terms with what happened to him against Floyd and be happy he learned from it.

Mayweather, 44, is fighting an exhibition match against YouTuber Logan Paul on June 6th on Showtime pay-per-view at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

 

YouTube video