Instead of a mega fight, all we got was another boxing clinic from Floyd Mayweather, who made Saul “Canelo” Alvarez look like someone who is too young, too inexperienced and simply way out of his depth as he lost for the first time in his career, while Mayweather kept his undefeated legacy going as he picked up another very fat check.
Despite the numbers from ringside judges (116-112, 117-111 and a shocking 114-114), this wasn’t even close. C.J. Ross was the official who was one of the two that gave Bradley that ridiculous win against Manny Pacquiao, finally riding Mayweather of the need to fight him. It’s no surprise to see her making another extremely weird decision, as Mayweather was barely touched by Alvarez through the 12 rounds of boxing.
Too fast, too good. Alvarez might have had almost 15 points on Mayweather after both made the 152 catchweight, but it didn’t help him one bit as Mayweather took him out of his gameplan very early on, forcing Alvarez into a very frustrated state of mind, which even led the 23-year old Mexican to try and land low blows; anything that might help him land a clean, solid and meaningful shot on Mayweather.
He might be 36, but his defense, speed and ability to do what’s right for him at a a certain moment remains impeccable and unmatched, possibly in this generation. Alvarez landed only 22% of his shots, while Mayweather connected on 46% of his punches, including 53% of his power punches according to Compubox.
Mayweather didn’t land huge shots on Alvarez, who does have a pretty strong chin. From the third round, Mayweather almost hit him at will, moving away from the jabs and getting stronger shots with his right hand on Alvarez’ swelling face. For the final three rounds, it looked like Canelo gave up on the fight, letting the frustration get to him, realizing that hitting Mayweather’s arms was the only thing he was good for on the night.
I couldn’t catch him. He was very elusive. He’s a great fighter. I did not know how to get him. He is very intelligent. He’s got a lot of experience. Honestly, I couldn’t find him. In the later rounds, I felt frustrated. I recognize that he beat me. I tried to connect on him, but I just couldn’t. At the same time, he also missed me a lot. A lot of punches landed on my gloves.
The big question coming out of this is who Mayweather fights next. He’s not going to take on Sergio Martinez or Gennady Golovkin. Even if he handles bigger guys well, climbing up to the Middleweight lands is a bit of a stretch, even for him. He’s more likely to climb back down to 147, and take on Danny Garcia, the best there is out there at the moment, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem for him, as Garcia simply isn’t fast enough to hang with Mayweather at his current form.
Mayweather solidified his claim for fame along with Alvarez, in what might turn out to be the most watched PPV fight of all-time, surpassing the 2.44 million from the 2007 Mayweather – De La Hoya fight. The 16,746 fans set a new record for gate revenue at $20,003,150, but that has to do with rising admission prices, not anything else.