Floyd Mayweather (44-0, 26 KO?s) and Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez (42-0-1) began an 11-city tour Monday afternoon in New York City at the heart of Time Square as the two undefeated fighters officially announced their September 14th bout in Las Vegas.
There was a large contingent of Mexican fans there to root for Alvarez, who is rapidly gaining the popularity and superstar status in his home country of Mexico. The 22-year old came out with Green, Red, and White confetti exploding in the air as he made his way down the walkway onto the stage. Mayweather came out to a good amount of jeers while walking out to the stage. The pound-for-pound king received the Red, White, and Blue confetti treatment.
?Canelo, I appreciate you for taking the fight,? Mayweather said in front of the Times Square crowd. ?Now, let?s give the fans what they want to see.?
The 36-year-old is coming off a dominant win over Robert ?The Ghost? Guerrero for the 147-pound title. Alvarez unified the 154-pound titles in his last fight with a win over Austin Trout back in April.
?In the sport of boxing, it?s everybody?s time, and this is my time,? Alvarez said through a translator as fans chanted ?Mex-i-co!?
?I?m going to win.?
The scene at Times Square
If Alvarez is indeed going to win, he will have to do so by fighting at a catchweight of 152 pounds, which is two pounds below the junior middleweight limit. Before the public press conference, Alvarez talked about fighting below his normal weight.
?It wasn?t me,?? Alvarez said. ?I don?t want to fight two pounds below the weight class. That?s the way it was negotiated. I accepted it. I?m fine with it. I?ll be OK.?
The catchweight will benefit Mayweather more than Alvarez, and thus it was surely ?Money? idea of fighting at 152 pounds.
?When you do something like that, of course my team comes to me and says,?Floyd this is what we have on the table. What do you think about it.
Mayweather said. ?I was like ?Hey, let?s make it happen.? Of course you?re going to go back and forth in negotiations and you?re going to come up with the terms that the teams come up. As fighters we agree or we don?t.?
This is the second in Mayweather?s six-bout, 30-month contract with Showtime that could pay him more than $200 million. When Mayweather injured his hand in his bout, it seemed unlikely that he would fight in September like he wanted all along. But to the surprise to many, even Alvarez, Mayweather said he was ready to go and take on the tough youngster.
?Honestly, I was very surprised,? said Alvarez talking about fighting in September. ?I am not surprised that he is fighting me, but I am surprised that we are fighting in September. I thought it would be next year at least.?
Alvarez vowed that he is not going to another victim to Mayweather?s undefeated list.
?The difference is that I am not going to try to beat him, but I am going to beat him,? said Alvarez. ?I have been waiting a long time for this fight. I am ready for this fight. ?I want to go down in history as the guy who beat the guy people considered the best.?
Mayweather was not his usual trash talking self in the beginning of the 11-city tour. It may come at the end of the long tour when he and Alvarez will be surely sick of starting each other down.
?We just finished shooting a commercial in L.A. and they were like, ?Why aren?t you trash talking??? Mayweather said. ?Why? Because he won?t know what I?m talking about anyway.?
He didn?t offer much when talking about the actual fight itself or Alvarez. Mayweather dug into boxing issues like sanctioning bodies, and insight of the Broner-Malignaggi fight.
?This is professional level and we need to handle business in a professional manner. It?s too many championship belts out there.?
Mayweather chartered a private jet and flew in from Miami for the fight because Broner had asked him to come.
?I?m proud of Adrien Broner?s victory (over Malignaggi). There are a lot things that he still has to learn,? Mayweather said. ?Me personally, I feel like he should have got the knockout the other day. I?m going to continue to support him. He was flat footed.
Mayweather dismissed any possible bout with the 23-year old welterweight champion in the future.
?I look at Adrien Broner like Daniel-san and I?m Mr. Miyagi. We never saw Daniel-san try to go against Mr. Miyagi,? Mayweather said. ?So with my career, a lot of times they try to compare the two. I love the kid, but you have to realize, you have to look at my career.?
Mayweather mentioned how he fought and beaten a skilled, crafty veteran like Genaro Hernandez by the time he was 21 years old. He talked about how he use to watch Hernandez fight when he was a kid, and that made him more in awe when talking about that title win. It doesn?t seem that Mayweather thinks that Broner is ready to fight him at anytime in the future.
