Although 43 others have failed to crack Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr.’s code, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez would be smart to study those who have battled him in the ring in the past.
There’s no doubt Canelo provides a unique challenge for the pound-for-pound king. The physically imposing and larger-framed fighter has the size-backed power it takes to stop Mayweather for the first time in his career.
And when you have the power behind your punches and ability to land those shots, there’s always a chance of landing a crippling blow that can stop a fight in an instant.
Having a “puncher’s chance” doesn’t really crack the surface of the threat Alvarez brings to Mayweather’s reign as king of the sport, though. He’s fast, both in his movement in the ring and in his hands. That speed will allow him to try several different approaches in his attempt to penetrate Mayweather’s heralded defense.
Here’s a look at what Canelo can learn from Oscar De La Hoya and Jose Luis Castillo’s fights against him.
Oscar De La Hoya
Something Canelo doesn’t do frequently enough is throw an effective jab. He’s a power-puncher, yes, but if he can learn anything from Oscar De La Hoya’s close-fought match with Mayweather, it’s that he needs to remain balanced in order to stay fresh and control the ring.
De La Hoya started out aggressive, as most do against Money, by pressing the issue. He backed up Mayweather to the ropes as much as possible and prodded with a jab while continually working in body shots to keep him unbalanced.
As the fight pressed on, he tired and was unable to keep cutting the ring off. Mayweather eventually settled in defensively and earned a split-decision victory.
Jose Luis Castillo
De La Hoya did it well, but Jose Luis Castillo did it first. Back in 2002, Castillo controlled the ring and landed 107 more power punches than Mayweather. It looked like he had the blueprint to stop him, but Mayweather adapted to control much of the rest of the fight, despite having an injured right hand for the second half of the action.
What Castillo also did well was choosing his places and deploying combinations at nearly every turn. He used effective body combinations while trying to move Mayweather into the ropes in an attempt to open up shots to his head.
Once on the ropes, Mayweather’s defense wasn’t as effective, and Castillo was able to do some damage. He also threw a lot of punches while Mayweather was countering, giving up points to get his own shots in when Mayweather was most vulnerable.
Takeaways
The lesson for Canelo is not to out-work himself too early. He hasn’t shown he has the stamina to try to control the ring and fight on the move for 12 rounds. As a result, a lot of people are suggesting an early barrage because he has the power to knock out Money with a big punch or a powerful flurry.
But the Mexican competitor is more than just power and shouldn’t expend too much energy early on. He needs to stick to his jab while mixing up with powerful body shots to keep Mayweather off-balance. His accuracy on those punches isn’t going to matter much if Money sees them coming.
Letting Mayweather get active is another lesson he should learn from this. Mayweather’s conditioning is top-notch, but in many of his fights he’s afforded a lot of time to recuperate by not over-punching. If Canelo can encourage him to throw more punches early, perhaps he could wear him down in the mid-to-late round by switching on their game plans.
While he should emulate these fighters, Canelo should also emulate his opponent. Taking a page out of Mayweather’s script by changing strategies is the best chance he has to score the upset.
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