When Floyd Mayweather announced he’s planning on fighting twice in 2013, the initial projected opponents were Robert Guerrero, which happened as predicted, and a later fight in a higher weight against Saul Canelo Alvarez, which is probably the biggest boxing match PPV money can buy these days.
The problem for Mayweather is that Canelo is playing by his own rules. A golden boy promoting golden boy, Canelo still isn’t considered to be the kind of fighter who can seriously challenge the big boys on top of the pound-4-pound rankings, but he’s getting there in terms of popularity.
Everything going according to plan, Alvarez was supposed to fight Austin Trout, quite a difficult encounter, on the same card as Mayweather, somewhat as a co-headliner, because Canelo is too popular these days to be considered an undercard. Alvarez wanted to fight Trout, against the wishes of some of those close to him, because he feels that it’s the best way to get to Mayweahter. Alvarez wants a shot at the head honcho of boxing.
Canelo was willing to play along with Mayweather and Golden Boy putting him on the undercard as long as he knew he had a shot at Mayweather next, in September. But… Mayweather refused to sign a contractual agreement forcing him to face Canelo if both of them win their fights against Guerrero and Trout respectively. To that Alvarez couldn’t abide, and decided to ruin the opportunity for some to ask for $70 on the PPV mega fight night on May 4.
Mayweather has no word to support what he says. The contract was already within the terms and just was missing the signature. He said yes, but nothing happened at the end. Floyd never signed anything. But in spite of all that I am happy with my fight and my own date. This is what I wanted from the beginning.
I have no need for Mayweather to impose conditions because I can have my own fans, my own event and my own history. I’m tired of being accessible to fight him, since he never was real in what he was talking. The truth is he does not want to fight me. I will continue doing my own history.
Alvarez will fight Trout on April 20 at the Alamodome in San Antonio and headline a Showtime-televised card. He doesn’t need Mayweather go promote a big night of fighting, but the question is why Mayweather refused to sign an agreement promising Alvarez a fight with him after they both win their next fights?
Just like Mayweather drew the life out of the Manny Pacquiao prospect, first by claiming he wants drug testing and then finding a money reason, fighting Alvarez before knowing how to beat him is too dangerous for Mayweather – he needs to find a weakness he can use, an advantage he has. Unlike most of the fighters Mayweather has taken on in quite a long time, Canelo isn’t someone on the way down. It’s the other way around.