Mayweather vs. Canelo

By Tom Drury: Last night I witnessed along with the rest of the world a nothing less than scintillating performance by boxing’s pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. This was the fight that has finally silenced Mayweather’s critics and doubters with a on-esided 12 round majority decision win over WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s). When this fight was announced I was one of the first to say this fight was “easy work” for Mayweather. Fans, critics, trainers and fighters all believed this was Mayweather’s biggest challenge. How wrong can you be?

As the build up to this fight gathered pace I actually started to believe the hype that Alvarez could at least give Mayweather competition. However, by the end of round 2 it was clear the young pretender was way out of his depth and in deep water as is the case with all Mayweather opponents. By round 4-5 I was starting to feel sorry for Alvarez, the hopes and expectation of a nation on his shoulders and he was been quite frankly exposed and embarrassed by the genius of Mayweather.

By Robert Elmore: Albums usually don’t drop on Sundays, but this is a special occasion. The executive produced 45 and Counting by Floyd Mayweather Jr. showcased his writing and production skills. The album has already sold a record setting 2 million copies worldwide on the first day and produced two singles “The Hype is Over” and “Why Weight” have gone double platinum.

“The Hype is Over” talks about how the media and all the Floyd haters have built yet another fighter in attempt to dethrone him. Like fights before this one, this was supposed to be Floyd’s toughest challenge. But once again, he made easy work of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. “Why Weight” makes all his detractors question themselves about his fight being at a catch weight and educates them at the same time.

By Carlos Gonzalez: Yes, my dear boxing fans, yes. Once again Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26 KO´s) showed the world and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO´s) that he is the best pound for pound boxer in the business. Mayweather took the center of the ring like he does in all his fights. This is the place where he feels comfortable, this is the place where he makes the magic, and this is the place where he shut down Canelo last night. Mayweather pounded Canelo with 505 punches out of which 232 landed.

The punches were of all sorts which come to no surprise considering Mayweather´s skill and accuracy. Mayweather manage to go in and out using his lighting speed jab, and in many occasions following it up with an accurate right hand that definitely was leaving bruises on young Canelo´s face.

(Hogan Photos) By Sam Jaegerson: Five weight world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26 KO’s) is a disease, and when I say disease I mean this as the biggest compliment I could possibly give. Much like a disease Mayweather adapts perfectly to his surroundings, breaks you down and once he finds your weaknesses takes full advantage. The problem for the boxing world, much like a disease every time you think you have a cure for Mayweather, he evolves. In the build-up to last nights super fight Oscar De la Hoya constantly bombarded us with the word blueprint.

De La Hoya’s split decision loss to Mayweather in 2007 is the closest anyone has ever come to beating Mayweather. The blueprint what was used that night saw Oscar working his way in using the jab either to the body or the head, then using combinations to try and nullify Mayweather unmatched countering abilities. This game plan was extremely successful until the midway point of the fight. Many journalists and experts to this day say if Oscar had carried his blueprint into the second half of the fight Mayweather would no longer have a perfect record. De La Hoya was actually criticized on the night for not doing this.

(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) By Stevie Ocallaghan: Last night in Las Vegas we witnessed pretty much what we all knew would happen. Floyd Mayweather scoring a pretty much one sided win against the unbeaten young Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Did anybody really expect anything else? Alvarez is a good fighter, but that’s it. He will have a good career, he already has but he was never going to beat Floyd. Hes just not good enough.

Alvarez said he just couldn’t figure Floyd out. Its not about figuring out its just Floyd was and is better. The kind of fighter for Mayweather to make it a better fight is actually someone like Amir Khan or Devon Alexander. Even a Pauli Malignaggi would give Floyd a better fight than Alvarez. The three named fighters have skills and speed.

(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) By Chris Williams: Former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) tasted defeat for the first time in his career tonight courtesy of Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26 KO’s) who beat him by a 12 round majority decision by the scores 114-114, 116-112, 117-111. The entire world saw the Las Vegas, Nevada based fight and they know that Mayweather clowned Canelo tonight, and made him look like novice.

It was disappointing to hear Canelo after the fight seemingly denying that he was dominated by Mayweather in saying “His [Mayweather] punches were just hitting my gloves…I just couldn’t catch him.”

By Dan Ambrose: Floyd Mayweather (45-0, 26 KO’s) totally dominated WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) in winning a 12 round majority decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The final judges decision was 114-114, 116-112, 117-111. The judge that had it even at 114-114 appeared to be watching a completely different fight because there was no way that Canelo had earned a draw in this fight unless the judge had his eyes closed for the entire fight. It was a mismatch all the way through the fight.

Mayweather hit Canelo at will with shots in every round. The only time Canelo had any success was in the last 3 rounds when Mayweather stopped nailing him with right hands as often, but even then Canelo still wasn’t able to land much. He was missing like mad and getting clowned by Mayweather.

By Mark Havey: Unraveling the fact from fiction, the genuine from the public image, the facts from the promoting, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) is gets people talking. People get carried away and believe in the hype. One thing is certain, Mayweather is a genius.

By Chris Williams: WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) maybe only 23-years-old and vastly inexperienced compared to Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26, KO’s), but he still thinks he’s got the magical plan to beat Mayweather. Canelo isn’t saying whether this brilliant plan was thought up by himself, his trainers or Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. I’m hoping for Canelo’s sake that he didn’t get this gem of a plan from Oscar, because it might be recipe for Canelo getting embarrassed rather than the ‘W.”

Canelo told the Boston Herald “I’ve figured him [Mayweather] out. I can’t wait to get up in the ring. It’s going to be a tough, difficult fight, but I have advantages and I’ve been working on those things that will be difficult. I have to stay calm. Other people have gotten desperate against him. You must be patient.”

By Dan Ambrose: ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas is picking WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) to steal a close decision over Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) tonight in their mega fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Atlas believes that Mayweather will make the mistake of focusing too much on his defense and not enough on his offense, and this will allow the 23-year-old Canelo to remain in the fight long enough to steal rounds by being the busier fighter.

Atlas thinks Canelo’s work will impress the judges enough to get win unless Mayweather remembers to focus on his offensive as well as his defense.