Between the Ropes: ‘May Day’ in September – Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez confirmed for September 14th – Arizona Boxing Community Reactions
It promises to be one of the biggest boxing events of the year. September 14th, Floyd Mayweather (44-0, 26KO) will face Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30KO) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The announcement came as a surprise to many when it was made via Mayweather, Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar de la Hoya’s twitter accounts Wednesday evening.

I reached out to members of the Arizona boxing community to get their thoughts on the match-up. Not many offered their opinion on who will win on September 14th, but most everyone seemed excited about the announcement:

“I’m very surprised by the news. Floyd Mayweather is living up to his word and giving back to the fans. This is without question going to go down in history as one of the biggest events in boxing. Two legitimate, undefeated champions with a combined record of 86-0-1, 56 KOs, it does not get any bigger than this”, said Felix Gracia, Owner of Inside the Ropes.

Power MMA Boxing Trainer, Jose Benavidez thought the bout may be premature for Alvarez. “It’s too early for Canelo to fight Mayweather. He should have fought Cotto, or someone else. ” When asked who will keep his ‘0′ that night, Benavidez said, “Mayweather, no doubt.”

Many think it’s a good move timing-wise for Mayweather, like Eddie Hernandez of Raging Babe Events. “It is smart on Mayweather’s part to fight Canelo now, rather than a year from now, because of the activity on his part.”

Not everyone feels like Mayweather will cruise to victory. Boxing trainer Richard Macias cautioned, “Don’t base your opinion of Floyd Mayweather on a fight with a lower-level opponent like Guerrero. Floyd is good, no doubt, but don’t think he will play with Canelo the way he did with Guerrero. Remember the hands [Miguel] Cotto put on Floyd? Now he’s going up against a stronger, younger fighter that is faster than Cotto.”

The fact that the fight is taking place at 152 pounds has been a hot button for discussion since the announcement. Mayweather has, in the past, spoken out about catch-weights.

“When I first heard about this fight being finalized, I, along with so many out there, wondered at what weight this fight would be taking place,” Albert Alvarez of AZ Front Row Magazine said. “When I read that the fight would be taking place at 152 pounds, I was a bit confused. I am sure that you are very well aware that Floyd has fought at 154 pounds before. This fight will be billed as a junior middleweight clash, and the spin on it will be that anything above 147 pounds is indeed a junior middleweight fight. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that Canelo will still need to come in two pounds south of 154 pounds the day of the weigh in.

“Once again, I’m not sure as to why Canelo’s weight seems to be a concern for them, especially when Floyd likes to preach that weight doesn’t win fights, skills and ring smarts do. But the bigger picture in all this is that the fight got made, and it has the potential of being the biggest fight in the history of the sport and is a true threat to breaking the all time PPV record set by De La Hoya/Mayweather. It’s great for the sport and that is what really matters here.”

I agree with Albert. It is a great fight for boxing. It’s Mayweather’s biggest risk in recent years, and puts him on track to fulfill the six-fight deal he has with Showtime. Pay-per-view buys will likely rank in the top five of all time, due to both fighters’ popularity. My pick? Mayweather wins, and so do boxing fans.