Today, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez remains the most dominant boxer of his generation. When one seeks the name of the best fighter of this era, his name tops the list. However, he enjoys this pride despite the few losses he’s suffered on his record. Now, as he prepares for his next stint in the ring, he speaks vividly about the loss Floyd Mayweather gave him more than a decade ago.
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In 2013, Floyd Mayweather at 36, decided to fight a young and rising 23-year-old, Canelo Alvarez. The match took place in Las Vegas. The fight gave Canelo not only his pro career’s first loss but also his most devastating to date. While he was majorly seen as an underdog for that matchup, a huge chunk of his fan base remained confident that he would dominate ‘Money’. However, on fight night, through a majority decision, he lost his WBC and Ring magazine super welterweight titles to Mayweather. Years later, when he’s way past that loss, career-wise, he reflects on what the matchup actually meant for him at the time.
Canelo’s fight against Mayweather was noteworthy. While he stood his ground persistently till the end, his punches couldn’t effectively find their mark on an elusive and experienced fighter like Floyd Mayweather who counter-punched his way to victory.
Alvarez jotted down a few points from that matchup as he spoke on a special series PBC is doing ahead of his Jaime Munguia clash. “When I fought Mayweather, he already had a lot of fights in that scenario. He had a lot of experience as well. I felt like I could beat him at that moment. I wasn’t ready for a fight of that magnitude and in that spotlight. I learned many things,” Canelo admitted.
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He further added in Spanish (translated by the channel itself), “He’s a very intelligent fighter. The way he handled himself in the ring. How he did things. Calm. Relaxed. I think I learned a lot from the experience. Obviously, it hurt my pride a lot because I wanted to beat the best.” After that fateful night, Canelo was never the same again. He was pretty much unstoppable until a few years ago.
In 2022, against Dmitry Bivol, Canelo’s worst fears came true again. The technical prowess of his Russian opponent fazed Canelo, who lost a second time, though still on points. However, these few losses could not stop him from joining the elite class. In fact, Floyd Mayweather too thinks that the fighter is cut out to join him in the elite club of boxing greats.
When the Munguia fight was announced, Canelo received flak for ducking David Benavidez, who is his mandatory challenger for the WBC belt. Justifying his decision to move over Benavidez, Mayweather, in an interview noted, “A lot of time fighters got to do what’s best for them…You have to live with the decisions that you make. I was in that same situation.”
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“He didn’t beat the champions by struggling. He clearly dominated a lot of those guys. He tested his skills. Light heavyweight, he won a title. Then he fought another guy at light heavyweight and came up short,” he explained.
“But, he’s a Future Hall of Fame, a hell of a fighter. Everybody wants their business different, I wish him nothing but the best,” he remarked.
