Mayweather vs. Canelo: Mapping Saul Alvarez's Path to Historic Upset

At the heart of all the buildup and hype for Saturday's megafight between Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez are two undefeated fighters with different strengths trying to formulate the winning game plan. 

There is no denying that the bigger Alvarez has the power to send Money to his first loss. However, there is also no doubt that the 23-year-old is facing a caliber of fighter he has never seen before. In other words, Alvarez is going to have his work cut out for him. 

Still, Canelo definitely has the puncher's chance in this fight and a little more as a skilled offensive fighter. Here is what he needs to do pull off this upset. 

Stay Patient 

This is paramount for every opponent of Mayweather, and it is especially true for a 23-year-old who is looking for a knockout. Money's defense is legendary and for good reason. He can deflect blows in his sleep using his shoulder roll and is always quick to counter effectively. 

However, his defense goes way beyond that. Mayweather is a brilliant all-around fighter. He is proactive in his defense, and he takes away from what opponents try to accomplish before they even have a chance to execute it. 

As Canelo watches Mayweather take away his plan of attack, it is going to be easy for Canelo to start taking risks to try to do some damage. However, that is what Mayweather wants to happen and what Canelo has to avoid.

Canelo must aggressively look for his opportunities, but he has to be tactical when launching his assaults.

Don't Make Himself an Easy Target

Canelo is significantly easier to hit than Mayweather. Defense is not his strength, and that's not surprising. He has excelled with his power, and his best defense has been to push the brawling action. 

Again, this is not going to work against Mayweather, who is far more elusive than any opponent Alvarez has faced. Money will sit back and land jabs and potshots while trying to wear down Alvarez en route to a win on points. 

In Alvarez's last bout, a narrow decision over Austin Trout, Canelo dominated in power punches. However, he also got hit 30 more times than he landed his own throws. He has to improve in this area for this fight. 

Regain Power After the Weigh-In 

This fight is being contested at 152 pounds. That is two pounds lighter than Canelo is used to. While two pounds doesn't seem like a lot to me while I type on a laptop after a breakfast of bacon and pop tarts, it can be a little more taxing to someone who already looks like this:

Floyd Mayweather Sr., in a story by David Mayo on MLive.com, told the world that he has a mole inside Alvarez's camp. According to this mole, Alvarez is having a hard time making weight. Now, this may or may not be true, but that doesn't change the fact that this issue is a concern for Canelo. 

As Mayo also points out, after purging water weight and everything else he can do to make weight for a fight, Alvarez quickly beefs back up for fight time. To drop two pounds more of water weight and whatever else he has to do is going to be taxing on his body. 

If Alvarez is sluggish in regaining his form and power after his weigh-in, he will be doomed.