Saul "Canelo" Alvarez packs quite a punch, but he doesn't have the skills to keep up with Floyd Mayweather.
The two boxers will both step into the ring undefeated on Saturday night at the MGM Grand, and many fans have hopes that Mayweather will finally meet his match.
Alvarez is only 23 years old, but he's fought in 43 professional fights since 2005—just one less than Money, who is 13 years his senior.
With a record of 42-0-1, Canelo has won 30 of these fights by way of knockout, which is one of the reasons Mayweather haters are touting him as the man who will finally knock the champ out.
It's never been done before, but those who believe Alvarez is the man to change history point to his power and his age as reasons Mayweather will finally succumb to defeat.
Just as it is in the wild, old bulls eventually get overthrown by young bulls coming into their prime, and many see Alvarez as the young bull ready to knock Mayweather off his perch as the world's best pound-for-pound boxer.
But Mayweather isn't ready to be put out to pasture just yet.
When he was asked about facing a fighter who was bigger, younger and stronger than him, Money replied, as noted by Santos A. Perez of the The Miami Herald: "It’s not about the weight—it’s about the skills. The skills pay the bills. I can’t wait to get in there and compete and test my skills against young guy. I feel good. I’m still hungry."
Based on what we saw from him in May after his year-long hiatus from the ring, Mayweather is just as quick as he ever was, and just as hard to hit.
According to Compubox, Robert Guerrero was only able to land 19 percent of his total punches when he fought Mayweather, and in his last 10 fights, Money has only been hit 17 percent of the time:
You can't hurt what you can't hit, and Alvarez won't be able to hit Mayweather with any consistency this Saturday night.
If the youngster tries too hard to land those power punches of his, he'll end up with a bloody nose. One of Mayweather's best traits is his ability to counter, and he'll be looking for chinks in Alvarez's armor when the challenger goes in for the kill.
This fight will likely be just as predictable and boring as the one we saw between Money and The Ghost. Mayweather is the most thoughtful, skilled and talented fighter in the world. He usually knows what his opponent is going to do before it happens, and he knows how to use this information to his best advantage.
No amount of power will win the fight for Alvarez. The only way he walks away with his undefeated record intact this weekend is if he can approach this fight with the same kind of savvy and intelligence as his opponent.
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