Earning his money: Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather during his final tune up at Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas. Mayweather will take on undefeated young redhead Mexican star Canelo Alvarez at the MGM Grand Gardena Arena Sept. 14 in Las Vegas.
Camps shut down all that’s left is “The One”
Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather, the face of the sport of boxing, put the final touches on a training that he calls one of his best ever and that news does not bode well for Canelo Alvarez when they meet at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday September 14.
The eight-time and five-division world champion, Mayweather competes for the second time in ’13 and risk his 44-0 record (26 KO’s) against yet another highly touted Mexican fighter in Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) on SHOWTIME Pay-Per-View and closed circuit venues throughout the world.
Tickets for the mega fight sold out in a record 24 hours, but if your bread is long you might be able to buy one from a ticket broker for a price in the neighborhood just south of $20,000.
That is the level of attention that this bout has achieved. It features an undefeated experienced veteran in ‘Money,’ who at 36-years old, does not appear to be slowing against a young Mexican sensation in Alvarez, who at 23, is as good as there is.
“He’s banking on his youth, I’m banking on my experience. I have a lot of experience in championship fights. Look at his resume, look at my resume and see what you come up with,” explained Mayweather.
As both fighters closed their respective camps last week, The Money Team appeared to be the least bit impressed with the redhead Mexican referred to simply as Canelo.
“What is he going to do? All he can do is pressure Floyd. My nephew is the best ever next to Joe Louis,” said his co- trainer and uncle Roger Mayweather.
Father Floyd Sr. was equally confident as hordes of reporters jammed into The Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas for the culmination of a final media blitz.
Senior, who is back in his son’s corner for the time consecutive fight, was relaxed and confident.
“He’s been doing this since he was 10 years old. My son is going to put him in his place. He’s a child and he needs to be put in a child’s place,” added the elder Mayweather.
‘Money’ added later, “I was born for this.”
This is a fight that could survive without the services of Kelly Swanson and could have been big even if CBS and Time Warner Cable didn’t settle.
“I think I’ll be a lot sharper for this fight. My training camp has been great. Actually, this is one of my best training camps I’ve had, probably since 2005. On my first day back, I got right back into sparring. So as of now, my training camp’s been smooth. My dad is happy, Leonard (Ellerbe) is happy, Al (Haymon) is happy and I’m happy. I’ve been boxing a lot of rounds, so I’m sharp. I’m in great condition and happy to get right back in there. I feel tremendous,” Mayweather said last week.
Although this will mark the first time in a long time that he’s fought twice in the same calendar year, it might just be a good thing because after his brief stint in jail, he returned to look brilliant against Robert Guerrero in his last.
“My last fight against Guerrero, he thought it was just gonna be easy. A lot of times people, fighters, look from the outside and think to themselves, ‘this can’t be that difficult,’ but once they get inside that squared circle with me it’s totally different.”
‘Money’ is ready to fight now. “My weight is made. I came into training camp weighing 150 or 149 and I came into the gym today probably weighing 150 or 149.”
In explaining Alvarez, Mayweather Jr. stated.
“Canelo is a solid competitor but it is what it is: I’ve faced the best in this sport, I know what it takes to be involved in a fight of this magnitude and I’m dedicated to my craft.
“This is a great matchup. He’s a puncher. I’m a sharp boxer. You know, a lot of times, I hit these guys and I make them go into survival mode. Even in the Robert Guerrero fight, I was looking for the knockout, but I hurt my hand. So I wasn’t impressed with myself — because I didn’t get the knockout. This time around, I’ll be looking for the knockout.”
“I can’t talk about the past, but I can talk about the present time and I can talk about the future. The present time is, I’m undefeated, and the future is, I’m going to continue to work hard and give the fans what they want to see.
“On Sept. 14, I just want everybody around the world to tune in and enjoy a great night of boxing.”
