Why Canelo Alvarez Is More Dangerous Now Than He Was vs. Floyd Mayweather
Two years, two months and a few days.
That’s how long it’s been since Saul Alvarez entered the ring as a newbie.
Lest anyone forget, that night—Sept. 14, 2013, to be exact—a 23-year-old version of Canelo stepped in against the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and, after 36 minutes of one-sided combat, was determined to be not quite ready for a prime-time Money shot.
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The loss prompted a six-month hiatus for the youngster, who’s since returned to record three consecutive victories (two by stoppage) while rebuilding the cinnamon-haired brand into one that’s again sharing a marquee for a significant premium cable-sanctioned pay-per-view show.
And while violent defeats of guys named Alfredo Angulo and James Kirkland don’t necessarily warrant a fast-track enshrinement in Canastota, the 25-year-old fighter, who’ll climb through the ropes to face Miguel Cotto this weekend at Mandalay Bay, appears to be markedly different in substance, if not in style.
“I think he's matured a lot in many different ways,” said Kevin Rooney Jr., director of public relations for DiBella Entertainment and son of Mike Tyson’s ex-trainer.
“He's a legitimate superstar and he has embraced it and knows how to handle it and deal with it, while still focusing on his training and keeping his mind on the fight. It's not an easy thing to do, especially at such a young age, but he seems to have found a happy medium. He's going into this confident and knows how much is at stake.”
Indeed, though he projected assurance across a 10-city hype tour that preceded the Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight, the Alvarez that emerged from the corner that night instantly put himself behind the eight-ball by ditching hell-bent-for-leather aggression for the champion’s somnambulant pace.
He was in a 5-1 hole on two scorecards by the halfway point, and—lunacy of C.J. Ross notwithstanding—didn’t truly find his groove until the first few rounds against Angulo half a year later.
He barely escaped a would-be track meet with Erislandy Lara in July 2014, then followed up the Mayweather-Pacquiao chess match in May with a two-fisted bludgeoning of Kirkland that HBO’s Max Kellerman called “maybe, all things considered, the most electrifying” of his career.
Though he’s nowhere near as one-dimensional as the Mandingo Warrior, Cotto’s rugged style still strays far nearer to Alvarez’s wheelhouse than Mayweather’s ever has—and if the Alvarez who won on May 9 shows up again on Nov. 21, it could be him as Salvador Sanchez to the 35-year-old’s Wilfredo Gomez.
“Stylistically, it's a much different fight than Mayweather,” Rooney said, “and one that I see favoring the younger and stronger Canelo.”
Add that to the mojo gained from the first trip to the circus and it feels like a different proposition this time, too. Toward that end, the initial version of HBO’s 24/7 preview series showed viewers an Alvarez whose close-cropped haircut and measured tone makes him appear ready for a smashing encore.
“Once you’ve been through it, it becomes old hat,” said Ray Mancini, an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee who’d won and lost a world lightweight title by age 23.
The fighter himself agreed.
“I'm a fighter now that's very, very different,” Alvarez said in August, at the Los Angeles stop of the Cotto fight’s media tour. “I’ve had some tough fights in between, some very good victories. I’m a more mature fighter. I’m stronger and more mature. This is the perfect time for this fight. This is a 50/50 fight and the better man's going to win.
“He's a great fighter, period. And being able to beat a guy like him, a great fighter like him, yes, it’s going to do wonders for my career. Yes, if I beat him it signifies a lot for my career.”
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.
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