ALREADY, the expected reactions to Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Saul Alvarez have flooded the fistic landscape, and this Last Rounder is just as excited about this bout.
First of all, Floyd?s acceptance of ?Canelo? as his next opponent speaks volumes about his attempt to quell the derisive accusations about him cherry-picking opponents.
It was conceivably easy for him to pick another less credible opponent to allow him to comply with his remaining bouts in his Showtime contract.
But this is arguably his avowal that he is concerned about how his place is pugilistic history will be judged.
PACQUIAO. Perhaps he was clearly affected by the insinuations that he was dodging Manny Pacquiao.
Or maybe, regardless of the circumstances and the grounds for the fight not happening, Floyd is trying to make the best of what?s left of his storied career.
It may be argued that after two straight loses, Pacquiao has a lot of catching up to do and the fight with Brandon Rios in November is certainly not a foregone conclusion.
Floyd has his own legacy to take care of. Whatever the case, nobody?s complaining about his choice.
CANELO. Young and undefeated, Canelo has the size and power to be a viable threat to Floyd.
In his last fight, he won via unanimous decision over the previously undefeated Austin Trout.
He knocked down Trout in the seventh round and proved he was seasoned enough to handle whatever the crafty Trout brought to the table.
Granted, Alvarez hasn?t really beaten the top-tier fighters out there, and the best names on his list are Trout, Josesito Lopez and a faded Shane Mosely.
But this fight will mark the first time in his career that Floyd has opted for a catch-weight against a bigger opponent and this is emblematic of how viable a threat Floyd sees the young Mexican warrior to be.
When Floyd fought for the junior middleweight titles, he did not ask for catch-weights against Oscar dela Hoya and Miguel Cotto.
Oddly, this time around against an untested Alvarez, he is.
On the other side of the coin, most pundits are also posing the obvious question: Is Canelo ready for someone like Mayweather?
Well, I can?t blame Canelo for grabbing his humongous opportunity to fight the world?s top rated fighter.
The thing is, you may never be ready for someone like Floyd Jr. As he is wont to say, 44 have tried and 44 have failed.
World champions, veterans, acolytes, bangers, brawlers, lefties, boxers, counter-punchers. Floyd has somehow defeated them all.
While of course some more ring maturity cannot hurt, if Canelo turns this down, somebody else might beat him to it.
The way I see it, Floyd has seen something in Canelo that made him cautious enough to ask for a catchweight. That in itself reveals a valuable insight on his chances.
AJ BANAL. The Last Round welcomes the news that AJ Banal will continue his career and fight in Manila on July 6 on the undercard of Merlito Sabillo?s defense of his WBO mini-flyweight crown against Colombian Jorle Estrada.
Most of us who were at ringside during Banal?s KO loss to Thai banger Pungluang Sor Singyu were devastated at the thought that Banal would now have to get back in line to get that coveted spot in the fistic limelight.
With questions hounding him about his stamina and punch resistance, any young fighter could easily have been discouraged or dissuaded from pursuing his career in the hurt business.
Remarkably, young AJ?s spirit is apparently undaunted and I can only salute his determination and wish him the best as he soldiers on.
LAST ROUNDS. Are on two dear friends, Stela Castellano Ostrea and Janet Gorne who are celebrating their birthdays this week. Cheers!
