Shane Mosley breaks down several aspects of the Floyd Mayweather-Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez clash

Shane Mosley speaking to the media on Tuesday afternoon (Photo: Chris Robinson – www.HustleBoss.com)

5Canelo workout

By Chris Robinson

On Tuesday afternoon, WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez entertained the media ahead of his Sept. 14 date with pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather.

For this particular camp, Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) is training out of the home and facility of his former rival Shane Mosley, who he bested over twelve rounds in May of last year.

A three-division champion who has endeared himself to audiences over the years, Mosley is still very much a player in the game following his unanimous decision victory over Pablo Cesar Cano in May.

On this day, however, Mosley was more than gracious enough to focus his attention on Alvarez’s upcoming attempt at dethroning Mayweather. After all, Mosley figures to be the perfect person to ask when assessing such a matchup, as he shared the ring with Mayweather as well in May of 2010.

Mosley would fall short against Mayweather, losing a wide decision after failing to build any momentum following a very big second round that saw him rock Floyd with some crisp right hands.

Moments before Alvarez would arrive to begin his media session, Mosley spoke with myself and various members of the media about several aspects of the Mayweather-Alvarez showdown.

This is what Shane had to share…

Fight of the decade…
“Both guys, great fighters. Floyd is definitely fast and sharp. Canelo is looking good too. He’s fast and sharp and looking good. I’m excited for the fight to see just what’s going to happen. I see Canelo training hard. I know Floyd’s training hard. It’s going to be the fight of the decade.”

Watching Canelo train in his gym…
“I noticed that he’s very focused and he’s training hard. He’s doing the best he can and working hard in the gym. Doing everything that coaches are asking of him. And he looks good.”

How Canelo could surprise Floyd…
“Well, I think Floyd’s seen a lot of different things in this fight game, but I don’t think he expects Canelo to be as good as good as he’s going to be; or as sharp or as fast or as good as defense as he has. It’s unexpected and I think it’s going to bother Floyd a little bit.”

Reflecting back on his matches with each man…
“With those fights, even when I fought Floyd and I fought Canelo. When I fought Canelo, I was better; I would say I healed better. With Floyd, I wasn’t really 100%, but I still got a chance to get the punch in. And Floyd proved that he was a world champion that he was and the elite fighter he is. He got out of it, did what he needed to do to win the fight successfully and pretty easily.”

Why Alvarez won’t be bothered by such a huge event…
“I think that Canelo’s going to be able to handle that. Because he’s been in big events and he’s been around a lot of people. Even in Mexico City, it seemed like we had 30,000 people out there screaming and yelling. He’s not afraid of a big crowd. That won’t be his problem. This will be his biggest fight to date. To prove that he’s pound for pound the best or the best fighter to take on the pound for pound best. That can play a big thing on him, fighting the best fighter and taking over to the next step. I remember when I fought Oscar De La Hoya the first time in 2000. The crowd didn’t bother me. None of that stuff bothered me. The only thing was, I had to beat Oscar De La Hoya. I had to beat him because he was the best and I felt I was the best. That was our thing.”

No prediction…
“I don’t have a prediction, I just want to watch a great fight, because both guys are equally great. Canelo coming up, getting better and better. And Mayweather, everybody knows that he’s the best fighter today. It’s going to be a great fight.”

Welcoming Alvarez into his home during camp…
“He’s not taking over or anything. He’s very respectful. The team is very respectful and I actually like having them here. They work very good. He was working with my son, like four or five times already. Shane Jr., he likes working with him. It gives him good work. It’s been great. Their training camp has been real good and we’ve been like family.”

Measuring each man’s punching power…
“They hit about the same. They have the same punching power, the same speed, the same snap. It seemed to me to be about the same. I know Canelo is stronger than Mayweather, throws good body shots. But as far as the punching power itself and the way they throw their punches, it’s pretty much the same snap and speed.”

Not anticipating a one-punch knockout from Canelo…
“Canelo can connect on Mayweather but it’s not going to be a one shot deal. Canelo’s going to have to wear Mayweather down and get the right shots. They both hit about the same. Canelo’s stronger, physically, but it’s not going to be a one-shot knockout. Maybe he can start him off and get him dazed, but it’s not going to be a one-punch knockout.”

Remembering how hard it was to connect on Canelo…
“Oh yeah. When I stepped into the ring with him and fought him, the speed and his defense, that was unexpected to me. I was like ‘I’m going to be able to crack this kid and when I crack him good, I’m going to knock him out’ and I never got that chance to get that one good solid hit that I wanted to get on Canelo. He won the fight.”

How he would have fought Mayweather and Alvarez differently…
“Well, if I fought Mayweather differently, I wouldn’t have got hurt; I wouldn’t have went up there snowboarding. That would have been the first thing. And that was pretty much a wrap. Once I hit him with that good shot and he adjusted, and he started laying it on me and stuff like that, it was pretty much a wrap from there. The fight was over with. With Canelo, I tried to pressure him and tried to keep a lot of activity on him. It’s the same thing. Now I feel a lot better than I did back then and I’m fighting better, moving better, sparring better. I just had to be more healthy. That’s the difference with Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather, and Canelo. That’s the difference. In Canelo I was better than those other two, but it is what it is.”

PLEASE  CHECK  OUT  more videos from Saul Alvarez’s media day in Big Bear…

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez: Media workout highlights ahead of Floyd Mayweather showdown

Canelo’s strength and power can trouble Mayweather, claims sparring partner Karl Dargan

Saul Alvarez sees many advantages over Mayweather; insists weight won’t be an issue on Sept 14

Chepo Reynoso responds to Ellerbe; says Team Canelo has their philosophy on how to beat Floyd

Saul Alvarez showing off his speed, power, and accuracy on the heavy bag

Chris Robinson can be reached at Trimond@aol.com

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