MAYWEATHER LIKES TO FACE YOUNG FIGHTERS; ALVAREZ COMES TO WIN
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 03 Sep 2013
Floyd "Money" Mayweather, Jr. will be 13 years older than Saul "Canelo"Alvarez when they collide on September 14 at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada. The WBA junior middleweight champion and the world's number one pound-for-pound fighter is already 36 years old while the challenger is only 23 years old.
Both protagonists are undefeated, Mayweather is 44-0 with 26 KOs, while Alvarez is 42-0-1 with 30 KOs. After the big fight, one record will remain unbeaten, while the other will be stained by defeat. Some experts see the situation as a battle between youth versus experience.
But Mayweather said he likes facing younger opponents because it will test his skills and motivate him to stay on top of the sport. "It is always about testing yourself and pushing yourself to the limit, and competing against young, strong, hungry lions. When I fight a guy who is extremely young they say Mayweather has more experience," he told BoxingScene.
He said critics would always find faults in his opponents. "If I fight a guy close to my age they say the guy is over the hill. If I fight a guy who comes up from a lower weight class they say he is to small so the only thing I can do is beat the guys in front of me and rack up the victories," Mayweather added.
His three previous opponents were all younger than him. Roberto Guerrero is age 30, Miguel Cotto is 32, while Victor Ortiz is 26. He won over Guerrero and Cotto by unanimous decision while he stopped Ortiz by KO in the 4th round.
Alvarez meanwhile is unfazed by the underdog tag on him going into the last week of training for "The One."
"A lot of people underestimate me," Alvarez told reporters in Big Bear, California. "Those people are mostly critics, reporters. You never hear anything from the guys I fight. It's only from those outside the ring that think I'm beatable," as quoted by Ryan Burton.
He wants to start fast and win all rounds during the fight. And he assured the fans that weight will never be a problem.
"I'm ready for this," Alvarez said. "I've always said that I've never fought to my potential but that's because I've never had an opponent to bring it out. I feel that maybe Mayweather will be the one to bring it out."
Canelo is confident of scoring an upset. "I'm not coming just to fight, I'm coming to win," he declared.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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