Mayweather Makes Easy Work Of Canelo
By Joseph Santoliquito
LAS VEGAS, NV (CBS) — It was a joke. It began as a joke, cloaked in the idea of a competitive fight, and it ended as a joke. But anyone who knows the sport of boxing, been around the sport for a while, knew Saul "Canelo" Alvarez didn't stand much of a chance to begin with against Floyd Mayweather, the world's best pound-for-pound fighter.
Mayweather then went out and proved it.
He was hardly winded. "Money" didn't even break a sweat in grinding up Alvarez in a brutal, bruising lesson to the red-headed, 23-year-old Mexican with what in reality was a convincing unanimous decision, but in the fantasy scoring of one judge, C.J. Ross, made it a majority decision for Mayweather.
Ross saw it 114-114, while judges Dave Moretti (116-112) and Craig Metcalfe (117-111) witnessed the same fight as pretty much everyone else, scoring it for Mayweather. The CBS Philly card scored every round for Mayweather, 120-108.
From the opening moments it was apparent Canelo could not stay with the faster, quicker, more-accurate punching Mayweather. There were times when Canelo attempted to bring the fight into the streets, one moment even throwing a right elbow in the fourth round.
None of it worked.
Mayweather resorted to his rhythmic, one-punch attacks, moving in and out just beyond the flailing Alvarez.
"Camp was tremendous, me, my father and Uncle Roger worked well together," Mayweather said. "I'm upset with myself still from this fight that I didn't throw enough combinations and I got hurt. We had a great training camp, a great training camp."
When it came to Ross's wacky scoring, Mayweather showed he's grown up quite a bit at 36. He had a legitimate gripe about Ross's card, yet averted bashing her, making an excuse for everything she missed, "The best commission in the world is the Nevada commission, so I'll leave it in their hands. [Ross], I think, could be older. I believe it's a woman, she could be kind of older."
The perfunctory question, which routinely follows a big fight, is who is next for Mayweather. The problem "Money" faces is that he's so much better than every current viable contender, even at 36 in a 17-year career that spans almost half his age.
Mayweather was coy when it came to that, too. But he did say he is aiming to schedule the four remaining fights on his Showtime contract with a May and September in mind over the next two years.
When Manny Pacquiao's name was broached as a possible opponent, which as a ritual happens after each Mayweather victory, Money as much as admitted a Mayweather-Pacquiao lost its cache.
"My dad said to go out there and do what you do best," Mayweather said. "When I came back to the corner, my dad told me I was fighting a little tight. I loosened up a little more, I came back and he told me I was still fighting tight. He told me to close up and go in the pocket. I started throwing combinations a little more, and in the [fifth round], we bumped arms. That's when I thought I dislocated my left elbow. In the sixth and seventh round, I was pawing at the jab."
That didn't matter. Mayweather still made Canelo look bad.
"I'm not focused on Manny Pacquiao at this particular time," Mayweather said.
A Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is about three years beyond its sell-by date. Pacquiao has since lost in an emphatic knockout to Juan Manuel Marquez. Mayweather, 45-0 (26 KOs), remains undefeated—and still untouchable.
