Tuesday, March 19, 2024  |

News

What’s next for Alvarez?

Fighters Network
16
Sep

LAS VEGAS — Canelo Alvarez had few words as he stood at the podium before a room full of international media members in the aftermath of Saturday night’s loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Not only did Mayweather (45-0, 26 knockouts) out-land Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KOs) by a margin of nearly two to one (232-to-117), but he had a more than three-to-one advantage in jabs landed (139-to-44).



“I had my game plan, and I tried to work my game plan,” said Alvarez, 23, through a translation by Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez. “But he took me out of it, and I just didn’t have an answer for him.”

In victory, Mayweather, 36, not only dethroned Alvarez as RING and WBC junior middleweight champion, but also defended his own WBA 154-pound title.

“Losing to the (No. 1) pound-for-pound fighter, you know, there is no shame in that. Tonight, he just lost to the best fighter in the sport. That doesn’t mean that Canelo is not good, it means that Mayweather is extra good. That’s just how good Canelo Alvarez is,” said Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer.

“I think that Canelo was, and still is, a big star. Canelo learned a lot tonight for a 23-year-old. I don’t think there is anybody at 154 who can beat Canelo Alvarez. So I wouldn’t mind having Canelo in his next fight against any 154-pounder without any question. I think that the same people who came out for Canelo tonight would come out for Canelo again.”

Alvarez drew a sellout crowd of 38,000 to The Alamodome in San Antonio for his unanimous decision over previously unbeaten southpaw Austin Trout, who was coming off a unanimous decision over three-division titlewinner Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico.

Against Mayweather, Alvarez had hoped to quell criticism that he had largely taken on undersized opponents such as Josesito Lopez and Alfonso Gomez, or past-their-prime and over-the-hill fighters such as former welterweight beltholder Kermit Cintron and three-division champ Sugar Shane Mosley.

Schaefer believes that Alvarez acquitted himself well.

“I think that the Canelo tonight would have beaten any 154-pounder, no question about that. And Canelo, today, is bigger than he ever was. Canelo is probably going to be fighting for a title, maybe in one of his next few fights, or maybe in his next fight. We still may want to see a Miguel Cotto-Canelo fight,” said Schaefer.

“We have a lot of good names there. There could be a fight with Cotto. I like to do big events, so if there is an opportunity, I would like to do a Canelo-Cotto fight. If he tells me that he wants to fight before the end of the year, we’re ready. If he tells me that he wants to fight sometime before the first quarter of the year, we’re ready, and if he wants to fight in May, we’re ready, so we’ll see.”


Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]

SIGN UP TO GET RING NEWS ALERTS