Chavez: Canelo Only Fought Mayweather Due to His Lack of Power

By Keith Idec

There might not be a Mexican harder on Canelo Alvarez than Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Seated across a table from Alvarez, Chavez told the Mexican superstar during an HBO “Face Off With Max Kellerman” segment that the only reason Alvarez accepted the most difficult fight of his career was because Floyd Mayweather Jr. was smaller than him and wasn’t a big puncher. The “Face Off” debuted over the weekend as part of HBO Sports’ push to promote the Alvarez-Chavez catch-weight fight Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (HBO Pay-Per-View; $69.99 in HD).

“I think if Mayweather was the bigger guy, or like you, he can knock you out,” Chavez told Alvarez during their contentious question-and-answer session. “You picked Mayweather because you know he don’t have power.”

The retired Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs) had knocked out just two of his previous nine opponents before his fight against Alvarez in September 2013. Mayweather also was a natural welterweight, although he had beaten Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya in high-profile fights contested above the welterweight limit of 147 pounds.

Alvarez argued with Chavez’s point about boxing Mayweather only because the best boxer, pound-for-pound, in the world was smaller than Alvarez.

“It doesn’t matter,” Alvarez told Chavez (50-2-1, 32 KOs, 1 NC). “He wanted the fight. He is the best. Everybody wanted to fight him. That’s how boxing is. When you want to be the best, you want to win against the best. He was at my weight and I wanted to fight him.”

Mayweather, then 36, clearly out-boxed Alvarez, then 23, in a 12-round, 152-pound fight that resulted in a majority decision win for Mayweather only because one judge, C.J. Ross, scored their one-sided bout a draw (114-114). Judges Craig Metcalfe (117-111) and Dave Moretti (116-112) scored that 12-rounder for Mayweather by comfortable margins.

Earlier in the “Face Off” segment, Alvarez defended his overall record when Chavez criticized him for facing smaller opponents, most notably British welterweight Amir Khan. Alvarez knocked Khan unconscious in the sixth round of their WBC middleweight title fight last May 7 at T-Mobile Arena.

“He says I fight with smaller boxers,” Alvarez said. “I have fought with the best ones – the best ones of my weight. I fought with the current champions of the time. I don’t see why he is saying that. I’ve fought with other boxers that want to gain weight. I fought with whomever, big or small. What can I say? We are in this fight and I’m waiting for May 6th, for him to realize who Canelo is.”

The catch weight for Alvarez-Chavez is 164½ pounds, by far the highest weight at which the 26-year-old Alvarez has agreed to fight.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.