Floyd Mayweather may concede that Saul Alvarez is talented, but that doesn’t mean he is going to let a relative newcomer dictate the terms of any future confrontation. To any prospective opponent of Floyd’s, it should be obvious by now that he doesn’t like not being in control. He was certainly not a fan of the way Alvarez was going about getting a fight with him in a proposed September bout.
At the same time that the details were being ironed out for the May 4 fight between Mayweather and Robert Guerrero, negotiations were also underway to put Saul Alvarez on the undercard. “Canelo” agreed to do it, so long as he was promised a fight with Mayweather in September.
In an interview with FightHype.com, Mayweather said, “A fighter that I made famous, Canelo, how can he give me an ultimatum?”
Clearly trying to put Floyd Mayweather in a corner is not the way to go about landing a fight with him.
“I’m not king to say that he can’t fight or he’s not a good fighter, but how can I let a 22-year-old kid, who just got into the sport of boxing, give me an ultimatum.”
Mayweather has stated the he intends on fighting twice in 2013, with September being the other suggested date. Alvarez told ESPN.com that Floyd verbally agreed to the deal, but would not sign the contract sealing the deal.
“He said yes, but nothing happened at the end. Floyd never signed anything,” Alvarez said. “But in spite of all that I am happy with my fight and my own date. This is what I wanted from the beginning.”
Now, Alvarez is off the May card, and will instead headline his own, facing Austin Trout on April 20 in San Antonio.
Should both come out looking good, there is no doubt that the boxing community will demand the two work things out and face off. However, Floyd Mayweather, as is evidenced by the Manny Pacquiao fight that never came off, is not one to let the fans persuade him. The fight will go on only if he dictates the terms.
“If I feel like choosing him, I’ll choose him,” Mayweather said. “If you get the lottery ticket, then you step up to the plate and you get your payday.”
