Floyd Mayweather is a smooth tactician, inside of the ring and out.
When "Money" Mayweather isn't dissecting the opposition between the ropes while excelling as a defensive, counter-punching expert, Money is making just that—great decisions that lead to more money.
Hence the reason Mayweather is getting paid a guaranteed $41.5 million just to show up to his latest match. As Mayweather himself so eloquently put it on Twitter, his fighting at the MGM Grand ends up with him making a lot of cash:
The latest fight for the 36-year-old legend was perfectly executed—and the bell has not even rang.
First, Mayweather picked the perfect scenario.
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is everything Mayweather wants in an opponent. He's young at 23 years old, he's inexperienced with his greatest claim to fame being the guy who knocked down Austin Trout and he's new to the scene—the Mayweather scene.
Oh, and most importantly? Alvarez is riding a hot streak of momentum that allowed Money to make as much money as possible off the fight. Canelo is 42-0-1 with 30 knockouts and currently holds both the WBC and the WBA junior middleweight titles.
Did we mention Alvarez is Mexico's biggest superstar in the sport and the match takes place two days before the country's national holiday celebrating its independence?
Cha-ching.
Secondly, Mayweather picked the perfect opponent.
Mayweather and Alvarez are polar opposites.
While Canelo attacks with devastating power strikes that land over 50 percent of the time, often in brutal combinations upwards of eight strikes leading to a knockout, Mayweather plays the defensive with his quick feet and famous shoulder roll while only getting hit by 17 percent of the punches thrown his way.
Canelo has never had to dance with a fighter that makes him change his style. Alvarez has survived simply by overpowering the opposition. Thirty knockouts is impressive, but plenty before Alvarez have entered the ring thinking that strategy would work against Mayweather.
It won't.
Under the bright lights of the highest-grossing fight of all time, the young Alvarez will fall into the same trap countless others have by realizing too late into the match the only way to win is via knockout. Alvarez has struggled with stamina issues in the past and Mayweather excels at taking fights the distance—advantage, Mayweather.
Mayweather, notorious for mind games and trash-talking, has already won in that department as well. Alvarez and his camp in the week leading up to the fight are clearly frustrated over the fact Mayweather forced a catchweight bout—forcing Canelo to drop weight—or Mayweather would simply pick someone else to fight and Canelo would miss out on literally the opportunity of a lifetime.
Can Canelo win? Sure, but Mayweather has so quietly stacked the odds in his favor, mentally, financially and physically it's hard to imagine anything but Money coming out on top.
Alvarez was chosen for a reason by Mayweather. Young vs. old, defense vs. offense, experience vs. inexperience. This is Mayweather's "I still got it!" statement to the rest of the boxing world.
The statement will be heard loud and clear but not just because of the action in the ring—but because of Mayweather, the out-of-ring tactician.
Follow B/R's Chris Roling on Twitter for more news and analysis @Chris_Roling
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