Contributor: Ben Kohn
On Saturday night, September 14th 2013, at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas Nevada, one of the most anticipated boxing matches in recent history will take place between the undefeated, undisputed, pound for pound best boxer in the world today Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the young, undefeated, Mexican superstar Saul Alvarez, better known as Canelo.
Floyd has been among the top boxers, and considered the best by many, for 15+ years and has fought his way to a perfect and unblemished 44 wins, 0 losses. He has beaten the best boxing has had to offer in Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosely, Diego Corrales, Juan Manuel Marquez, and the list just goes on and on. He has accomplished this with his incredible defensive skills, lightning speed, and fluid and stinging offense. He doesn’t tire, his chin, when touched, has held up just fine, and the worst part is that he is the smartest boxer in the sport. His fight IQ is literally among his best weapons. With all the physical tools he has, he knows the best way to utilize them and that is what makes Floyd the best in the world.
Canelo is just 23 years old and has already racked up an incredible 42-0-1 record with 30 of those wins by KO. He has beaten some great boxers in Shane Mosley and Austin Trout but his list of victories does not stack up to Floyd’s. However, the improvements and most importantly, the speed with which these improvements in his game have been gained is nothing short 
of astounding. Despite not having as many big victories as Floyd, the young Canelo has looked magnificent and has really become one of the best young boxers in the sport. The power he packs into his blistering combinations and body shots is enough to drop and knock out almost anyone at his weight class. Couple that with the fact that he has developed from a purely offensive fighter into one with very sound defensive skills and you have a nightmare of an opponent. Canelo’s swift rise in the boxing world has led to the fans demanding Floyd and Canelo fight to determine who the best boxer is right now. Will the young challenger to the throne become the new king of the boxing world or will the PPV king once again show why he is undisputably the best boxer in the world.
To go deep in depth into the exact tactics these two employ would take a very long time and end up being much too much information for one article. I will try my best to be as detailed yet as general as possible at the same time.
There’s the old saying that boxing (striking in general really) is the art of hitting without being hit. Floyd Mayweather is the absolute master of this skill. His unique style of defense combining the Philly Shell guard with his smooth and fluid shoulder rolls cause his opponents to swing and almost 80% of the time miss, generally. This alone isn’t what makes Floyd so dangerous though. What makes his defensive skill so incredible is that he seamlessly transitions it into his offense. Floyd is bar-none the best counter puncher in boxing today. His counter right hands are an absolute bitch to deal with (and now he started leading with it to great effect) and his combinations of the counter are so fast, his opponents just shell up and can’t muster any return fire. Floyd’s defensive brilliance is beautiful to watch but he is also a serious offensive threat. While not having too much power, Floyd makes up for it with his speed. Floyd’s combinations are really great and absolutely flustered Cotto in their fight. Anytime Cotto tried to get inside on Floyd, he was rendered ineffective by Floyd’s incredible defense and stinging and quick 
combinations. His hooks and uppercuts really confused and disrupted Cotto’s offense. Anytime he tried to get something going Floyd would either pop him with a crisp jab (getting to that) or hit him with a combination before angling away from danger. On top of all these weapons, Floyd is a master of distance and controlling it. He has an amazing jab and he uses it to great effect, keeping Cotto and Ortiz at bay whenever he wanted too. Against Cotto, he used a body jab to open up Cotto to his hard right straight. Floyd is just amazing with the jab and controlled whole portions of rounds with Cotto just jabbing him from the outside. His technique and placement and movement make him damn near impossible to be hit. The worst part is that when Floyd feels he is in danger to be hit, he is excellent at grabbing a hold of his opponent and clinching up. He used this to great effect in his bout with Cotto and it also allowed Floyd to outbox Cotto inside which is where he wanted to be in the first place. It’s bad enough he’s so hard to hit but when he’s in danger of being hit, he takes the danger away by clinching. Canelo though has the type of attack and the physical tools to possibly hit him and make him pay for getting inside on him and let’s see how.
Canelo will have a massive size, and more importantly, power advantage over Floyd Mayweather come fight night. Canelo’s power is going to be the x-factor in the fight. Canelo is fast for someone of his size, he has developed great defensive movement, his combination punching is brutal (ask Josesito Lopez about that), and he can drop you with a single punch (Austin Trout was on Bambi legs). He also has good cardio and a great chin to boot. Floyd is not going to knock out Canelo which gives Canelo a major advantage. Floyd has to fight a nearly flawless fight against Canelo to avoid the vicious power in his hands. Canelo just has to land the right shot at the right time. Sounds like one of those punchers chance lead ins but it really isn’t. Canelo has power but he also has the tools to deliver that power in earnest. His has a good jab to help him set up his 
unorthodox and powerful combinations. Canelo uses same side combinations MMA fans will rarely see in the cage but work to great effect (Weidman set up his KO of Silva with a same side doubling up of the punch). Canelo’s use of the left hook to the head and body against Lopez dropped him 3 of the 4 times he was knocked down, and supplemented the 4th and final knockdown which led to the TKO stoppage. This body punching attack and mixing up the punches against Mayweather will be essential if he wants to have a shot at defeating Mayweather, who has fought every type of style there is. Alvarez cannot become predictable in his punches or Mayweather will be able to easily counter him all night long.
The biggest and most telling performance was Canelo’s fight with Austin Trout (I personally scored the fight 115-114 for Trout). Trout was able to use an active jab and quick combinations to give Canelo a lot of trouble. While most shots didn’t land, Canelo was not punching back very much and it could have cost him some rounds. The thing that I liked most about Canelo’s performance though was his superb defensive head movement. At one point, it was striking how much he resemebled Floyd in his movement, even rolling his head and angling out when he needed to just like him. What he didn’t do, which is what Floyd excels at, is counter punch off his defense. Defense doesn’t win fights alone and you need to make your opponent pay for missing. Canelo still hasn’t learned, or just doesn’t, do that consistently yet and it will be a factor in the fight.
Overall, promotionally, this fight comes down to the experienced older champion against the younger rising star. Power versus speed, or experience versus youth is too simplistic a label to put on these two magnificent boxers. Both possess incredible and unique skillsets that set them apart from the rest of the boxing world and that needs to be recognized. Canelo really does have the skills and tools to beat Mayweather, he just needs to put them together. Floyd has all the tools to beat Canelo as well. The difference between them is that Floyd’s toolset has been honed over the years while Canelo has yet to show the ability to mix all his tools together in the same way yet. Floyd’s technical mastery and experience will allow him to outbox the young champion en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Final Verdict: Floyd Mayweather by Unanimous Decision.
-Ben can be reached at [email protected] or @agentbenten.
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