It?s not as though fighters are lining up to be anointed. Most fighters are focusing on their next opponent?
When Floyd Mayweather reaches 50-0 and retires after having surpassed Rocky Marciano?s 49-0 record, someone will have to step up to fill Money?s very substantial shoes.
And who is that someone?
Well, according to Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez, he?s the guy.
It?s not as though fighters are lining up to be anointed. Most fighters are focusing on their next opponent. Most fighters are not concerned with being the next face of boxing.
But Canelo is not most fighters. He is also, it must be said, considerably more like most fighters that his ostensible predecessor Floyd Mayweather. Not that it matters.
Having jumped from Showtime to HBO with much fanfare, Canelo has claimed Cinco de Mayo weekend for himself, declaring that Mexican Independence Day ought to be reserved for a Mexican, not someone from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and who?s more Mexican than the freckle-faced redhead from Juanacatl?n, Jalisco, Mexico named Saul Alvarez?
I can think of a few fighters who are equally Mexican, but none of them have the star power of Canelo, or are nearly as photogenic.
It?s not as though Canelo is squeaky-clean, despite what was written on Boxing Scene. It?s not as though squeaky-clean matters. The occasional blemish hasn?t lessened Mayweather?s box office appeal, but if the media wants to scrub Canelo?s image to elevate him to boxing?s version of Godhead, that?s what soap, water, and elbow grease are for.
HBO Sports President Ken Hershman, who met with the media at HBO?s offices this week, called Canelo ?the future superstar of the sport.? That specificity, however highfalutin, didn?t last, as Hershman let hyperbole get the better of him by saying it was ?refreshing? and ?compelling? to ?hear a fighter talk about not just making money but making history,? as if talking about legacy was as rare as a Greta Garbo sighting.
Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo?s promoter, was no less enthusiastic than Hershman. ?Saul Alvarez is the present and the future,? he gushed. ?I think what?s happening now is that people are now starting to talk about not Pacquiao-Mayweather. They?re starting to talk about Cotto-Canelo. It?s not the second best fight to be made. Now it?s becoming the best fight to be made.?
To compare a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao to a fight between Canelo and Cotto doesn?t wash. It may be competitive, just as Mayweather vs. Pacquiao might once have been competitive, but the comparison is a facile as it is incorrect. De La Hoya can, however, be excused. He is simply doing what promoters are supposed to do, which is to pitch fights, often at the expense of the truth.
Not willing to leave well enough alone, Canelo had to take a dig at Mayweather, even though Mayweather schooled him when they first met, even though Canelo has no intention of being schooled a second time.
?All his fights he doesn?t take a risk,? said Canelo. ?He fights 10% of every round and then uses his experience to survive. He?s not exciting.?
Canelo may be exciting. He may even be boxing?s next superstar. And if his Dec. 6 fight against no-hope Joshua Clottey is any indication, he may be taking a page from the playbook of the man he intends to replace, without even so much as a thank you.
