Canelo Alvarez realizes Floyd Mayweather merely is continuing to cash in on his boxing legacy and mainstream fame.
While Mayweather is well within his right to do that, Alvarez obviously isn’t a fan of elite-level boxers fighting novices, even in exhibitions. Mayweather, 44, and the taller, heavier Paul, 26, are scheduled to meet in a Showtime Pay-Per-View main event June 6 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Mexico’s Alvarez dismissed Mayweather-Paul as “stupid” during an expansive interview with Graham Bensinger, which debuted on Bensinger’s YouTube channel Wednesday.
“Well, it’s just an exhibition,” Alvarez said. “It’s about making money is all. It’s really not relevant at all. It’s an exhibition, just for making money. As you say, it’s stupid.”
Paul could out-weigh the undefeated five-division champion by more than 30 pounds. Alvarez still can’t see someone so inexperienced testing one the best boxers, pound-for-pound, in the history of the sport, even at Mayweather’s advanced age.
“I think even the question is offensive,” Alvarez replied when Bensinger asked him who will win. “Mayweather, obviously.”
Alvarez offered a far different answer when Bensinger inquired about who would’ve won if he fought Mayweather when they both were in their physical primes.
“He’d have nothing to do with me,” Alvarez said. “If we were both at our prime, our best prime, he wouldn’t have anything to do with me. Nothing.”
If Mayweather would’ve faced Alvarez in his physical prime?
“I would knock him out,” said Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs), who will battle Billy Joe Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) in a 12-round, 168-pound title unification match May 8 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Mayweather was 36 and Alvarez was 23 when Mayweather masterfully out-boxed him in their 12-round junior middleweight match in September 2013. Judge CJ Ross infamously scored Mayweather-Alvarez a draw (114-114), but judges Craig Metcalfe (117-111) and Dave Moretti (116-112) credited Mayweather with a convincing victory.
Alvarez has since experienced extremely close fights with Gennadiy Golovkin and Erislandy Lara, but he hasn’t lost in the 7½ years since Mayweather beat him at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. He took that defeat to heart, won world titles in four weight classes and evolved into arguably the top boxer, pound-for-pound, in the sport.
“It was very sad,” Alvarez said. “It hurt me very much. Because I wanted to beat him and be the best. But I always say God always knows why he does things. Maybe at that moment, if I would have won, imagine all of the fame, all of the money I would’ve had suddenly. I wasn’t going to be able to control it. I would’ve gone crazy. I didn’t have the experience, the maturity. I wasn’t the boxer I am today. Very different. But for me, that moment hurt a lot. But at that moment I still – I got to thinking, this won’t … I’m not going to let this kill my dreams. Someday, I’m gonna be the best boxer in the world. And now today, I am.”
By: Keith Idec (BoxingScene)