Floyd Mayweather Jr. was back in the ring on Sept. 14, this time around facing a much younger and stronger Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in a fight labeled by promoters as The One.
Both fighters entered Saturday night without a loss on their records. Mayweather came in at (44-0, 26 KOs) and Canelo at an impressive (42-0-1, 30 KOs). Although on paper the fight seemed like an even match in the ring it was not even close, the 37-year-old Mayweather dominated the 23-year-old Canelo much of the fight.
Coming off of his shortest layoff in many years, the seasoned Mayweather silenced all the doubters who were saying he is too old to continue his level of excellence. He did not appear at all to have lost a step or be fatigued. Instead, he was sharp and just efficient as ever, Putting the 23-year-old Canelo through a boxing clinic.
During the later rounds of the fight, Canelo seemed very tired and frustrated because he could not pierce through the signature defense we are accustomed to seeing from Mayweather. “I didn’t know how to get him, it’s extremely simple,” Alvarez said. “He’s a great fighter, very intelligent. The frustration was getting in there, but he’s a great fighter. We tried to catch him.”
Mayweather cruised through much of the fight by solely using his jab and defense to tire out Canelo. Alvarez had some success during the fight going to the body of Mayweather, but he did not stick to it, showing some inexperience.
The fight was fought at a 152 pounds. Alvarez weighed in at exactly that, while Mayweather came into weigh-ins at 150½ pounds. However, when the two stepped into the ring it was reported that Canelo bulked back up to 165 pounds, and Mayweather stayed put even losing a half pound at 150.
The weight difference did no good for Alvaraz, because the much smaller Mayweather proved to be too fast. Mayweather was able to land almost everything he wanted and get out of the way before Canelo could react. If Alvarez had any power advantage at all, it didn’t matter because Mayweather didn’t feel it.
The win for Mayweather didn’t come without controversy, though. One of the judges scored the seemingly one-sided fight a 114-114 draw. Judge CJ Ross posted that score, and he’s infamous for the scorecard that eventually cost Manny Pacquio his belt to Timothy Bradley in 2012.
“I thought it was a joke,” Mayweather responded when asked about the scoring. It’s hard to be mad at anything when you are the recipient of a guaranteed $41.5 million purse at the end of the day.
The verdict is still out on who, if anybody, can beat Floyd “Money” Mayweather. One fact still remains: 45 have tried, and 45 have failed.