"Money" Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez Prepare for the Fight of the Year

By Warren Rodriguez

Good vs. Evil, Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader, Superman vs. Lex Luther, Batman vs. The Joker, Canelo Alvarez vs Floyd Mayweather…

Ok, so maybe that last one doesn’t belong, but this match still has all the ingredients of a classic hero-villain saga. When Floyd Mayweather takes on Canelo Alvarez this Saturday at the MGM Grand, there’s no doubt that it will be the biggest fight of the year. If this were a Hollywood picture, we would see an epic battle between two titans and watch Canelo knock Floyd’s loud mouth right to the ground, then see the fan favorite's hand raised in victory.

However, this isn’t a movie, and real life is often less exciting.

Mayweather didn’t build his legacy on thrilling knockouts or trading punches with his opponents. Rather, he built it on sound technique, a one of a kind defense, and genius level boxing IQ. Add that all together and it doesn’t always make for exciting pugilism.

“Money” Mayweather is still must-see TV, especially on this night. He’s undefeated, chasing history and fighting his toughest opponent since his record breaking fight in 2007 with Oscar De La Hoya. Boxing's former Golden Boy, De La Hoya, is also the promoter of Canelo Alvarez, and the two of them have been doing their own verbal sparring in the lead up to fight night.

De La Hoya has been very outspoken about wanting to see Alvarez beat Mayweather and predicts Floyd will be knocked out around the 8th round. Floyd has taken exception to these comments.

“Oscar’s just jealous of me. He don’t have money like me. He’s not flyer than me," Mayweather said. “Oscar likes to run around with this Golden Boy image, which we know really is fake. He’s always been jealous of me. I’m the total package.”

De La Hoya has publicly acknowledged that he has had alcohol and drug addiction problems in the past. He recently checked himself into a rehab facility and won’t be in attendance for the fight this Saturday. Mayweather, who doesn’t smoke or drink alcohol, seemed to feel little sympathy for his former foe, calling De La Hoya’s recent public appearances “real embarrassing. I wouldn’t even show up to the fights if I were him.”

Regardless of whether De La Hoya shows up or not, Mayweather will still have to fight the undefeated Mexican Canelo, who looks like a member of Menudo, but is built like an NFL All-Pro Linebacker.

Alvarez poses many threats to Mayweather; he’s younger, stronger, trains relentlessly and wants to become the new King of the Castle. The consensus is that Mayweather may be a little too experienced and have too much boxing savvy for the young Super Welterweight champion, but Alvarez thinks that the media and Mayweather himself aren’t giving him enough credit.

“I think that the way he’s talking, he’s underestimating me. But, at the same time, I think that he’s worried," Alvarez said. “I think that he’s very, very worried, but he’s always been a talker and that’s the kind of person he is, but I don’t care.”

If Alvarez wants to beat Mayweather he is going to have to counter effectively, attack his body, and slow down his movement. It’s a daunting task but it can be done, especially with Mayweather coming off the shortest turnover of his career and we’ll see how his 36-year old legs handle the added workload.

Overall, it’s going to be a great night for boxing, especially with the co-main event likely to be more exciting than the main event with Lucas Matthysse taking on WBC/WBA light-welterweight champion Danny Garcia. That bout is almost assuredly not going to go the distance.

So call up your friends, order some chicken wings and pizza, shell out the $75 and enjoy a fine night of pugilism… I know I will.