On September 14, 2013, Floyd Mayweather,36, fought Canelo Alvarez, 23. The fight went the whole distance and Mayweather, having outclassed Alvarez for twelve complete rounds, won the bout via a majority decision. As fate would have it, this was going to be the first career loss in pro boxing that Canelo Alvarez would suffer. It has been almost nine years since the fight took place, and Mayweather and Alvarez now occupy different spaces in boxing. However, Mayweather fighting Alvarez when the latter was just 23 is still a matter of debate.

In the teaser of The Making of Saul Canelo Alvarez by DAZN, promoter Eddie Hearn sparked a fresh fire in the aforementioned discussion as he commented, “You just don’t fight Mayweather at that age. Why would you do that?”

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For Hearn, Alvarez fighting Mayweather at the young age of 23 was not a solid step resulting from a rational mind. We ask why?

Floyd Mayweather was prudent when he fought Canelo Alvarez in 2013

Hearn is not the first one to question why Alvarez fought Mayweather at 23. Frankly speaking, Alvarez did not fight Mayweather at 23; he barely played an active role apart from being the young and talented boxer. On the contrary, it was the fight, according to a plan, that took place when Alvarez was 23 and still enduring, in the critique’s language, the impressionable period of the youth. Mayweather battled Alvarez in the period of his full maturity, and that was the whole point of fighting Saul.

Max Kellerman’s assessment of the said matter was well-thought and compact. In his words, “Floyd was careful in the way he selected opponents. He waited till Pacquiao wasn’t at his best anymore; he didn’t fight Margarito when he was tearing everyone up, he waited for the right time to fight people. That’s part of why he says he’s TBE.” 

According to Max, such patience and calculated steps benefited Mayweather significantly by lowering the risks. Therefore, when Mayweather,36, fought Alvarez,23, the former was simply being prudent. On one hand, TBE well-understood that Alvarez was just not prepared to solve the puzzle [low risks], and on the other, with a professional record of 42-0-1, he realized Alvarez was the future of boxing [glory]. A victory against the future of boxing was certainly not going to make Mayweather’s record look bad.

But why did Alvarez not reject the bout in 2013? The bout would have probably never taken place had Alvarez refused to fight ‘Money’ that year. It had to be in 2013 or never.

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What is your take on the matter?