For those of you who purchased Saturday's Mayweather-Alvarez pay-per-view or even went as far as to attend the fight in hopes of seeing Floyd pick up the first loss of his controversial career, one thing became abundantly clear over the course of the bout.
It's a loss you're never going to see.
Photo by: Ethan Miller |
The more frustrated the Mexican star got, the more he fell apart, showing a noticeable lack of poise in the ring as the fight progressed.
Bottom line, this was an absolute boxing clinic. A blowout of epic proportions. Alvarez was the aggressor, but it was Mayweather landing the cleaner blows all night long. Floyd landed 232 of his 505 total punches (compared to just 117 of 526 for Canelo), and connected on 139 of his 330 jabs (just 44 of 294 for Alvarez). At no point did Mayweather appear to be in trouble and he never looked tired, while Canelo fought with his hands down in the later rounds and was all but cemented to the mat whenever Floyd pushed him into a corner.
Credit Alvarez for taking a ton of clean shots, but that's about the only thing you can give him credit for.
"I couldn't connect," Canelo said afterwards. "He is very elusive and intelligent. He has a lot of experience and I honestly couldn't find him. The late rounds, I felt frustrated. I recognize that he beat me. He's a great fighter."
Essentially the only real drama in this fight came after the final bell during the scorecard reading, when it was announced that judge C.J. Ross had somehow managed to score the contest a 114-114 draw.
As far as that goes, the Nevada State Athletic Commission can stand behind Ross' lackluster judgment all they want, but she clearly botched yet another fight and has a notorious history of not scoring bouts correctly, so it would be best for everyone involved if she just took it back to the kitchen and steered clear of any boxing rings for the foreseeable future.
Back to Mayweather. The question now becomes, who's left? Who can end his reign of dominance in the sport, and for those who have come to dislike (in most cases, strongly) the 8-time world champion, who can finally shut him up?
The answer is simple. No one.
With Manny Pacquiao now diminished (and we were never going to see that fight anyway; thanks Bob Arum), Floyd stands alone. In all likelihood, he's headed back to the 147-pound division, and there's nobody there that can touch him. Adrien Broner is too raw, and he and Mayweather are friends anyway, so that's not happening. Danny Garcia had a nice win over Lucas Matthysse on Saturday's undercard, but he doesn't have the quickness to hang with Floyd. The only other real notable guy, Amir Khan, has looked awful as a welterweight.
So for anyone still clinging to the false sense of hope that someone will eventually hand "Money" his first notch in the L column, it's time to hang it up. As he cruises into the final four fights of his professional career, there is no one whatsoever that looms as a serious threat to him.
49-0. Book it.
Can't stand Mayweather, but your right. He'll retire undefeated. Nothing but bums left to fight him.
ReplyDeleteHe'll retire unbeaten because he ducked Manny for years.
ReplyDeleteLol @ ducked Manny. Clearly you have no idea what you're talkin about, so do some homework and get back at me afterwards.
DeleteI am one of those haters and I came to the same realization Saturday night. It's a done deal, and he didn't just duck Pacquiao, but plenty of fighters. I respect Mayweather's skills and all, but he's only undefeated because he was so intelligent and meticulous in choosing opponents and at what weight to fight them at.
ReplyDelete