Floyd Mayweather Jr. handled Saul "Canelo" Alvarez with apparent ease in September 2013, when the then-undefeated Alvarez appeared to pose the biggest threat to Mayweather's spotless record in years. Alvarez has rebounded well from that experience by winning his next two fights, and hopes he will get another crack at Mayweather before he hangs up the gloves.
"Hopefully, we can get the Mayweather rematch down the line," Alvarez told ESPN Deportes. "I did learn a lot in that fight. We got experience from that fight. I always try to look at the positives in things. But I know I'm not going to fight in a weight class that's not mine."
That would be welterweight, where Mayweather will be fighting Manny Pacquiao on May 2. Alvarez's fight vs. Mayweather took place at a 152-pound catch weight, which Alvarez doesn't seem eager to go through again. He is a large junior middleweight, and has been discussed as a potential opponent for middleweight champions Gennady Golovkin and Miguel Cotto.
Talk of a rematch is premature at this point since both Alvarez and Mayweather have difficult fights coming in May. Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, scheduled for May 2, is arguably the highest-profile fight in boxing history, while Alvarez is slated to face a very dangerous puncher in James Kirkland on May 9.
Still, the prospect of a second Alvarez fight could make sense financially if both men win their upcoming fights. The fervor surrounding Alvarez is reminiscent of the fan base that Oscar De La Hoya had when he lost to Floyd Mayweather and spawned his superstardom.
"I don't think [Mayweather has] had an opponent like that since Oscar De La Hoya," Showtime Sports executive Stephen Espinoza said.
"Oscar, at that point, had been an icon in the sport for a very long time. This is a [23-year-old] kid. The amount of fan support and hysteria he created did take Floyd by surprise. Floyd didn't expect it."
[CBS]
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