by Rick Reeno
WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (42-0-1, 30KOs) explained the background behind the agreed-upon catch-weight for Saturday's fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The two boxers will collide at a weight of 152-pounds.
According to Canelo, Mayweather first requested 147, and then went up to 150, and then 151 - and at that point Canelo countered and said he was willing to shed two pounds in order to make the fight happen.
“I’m the bigger guy, why would I give up weight?” Canelo said. “You want to know what happened? They wanted to fight at welterweight. I told them, ‘No way, those days are over for me.’ Then they said let’s do the fight at 150. I said I couldn’t do that. Then 151. To make this fight happen I said I would give up two pounds. Then we finally agreed on 152," Canelo said.
The Mexican star further claimed that Mayweather and his team tried to keep him quiet regarding the "catch-weight" negotiations.
"They tried to keep us quiet. They told us not to speak with the media. They told us not to disclose anything and we were fine with that. The reason why we are talking about the weight today is because they called us idiots and said we wanted the catch-weight, they are lying," said Canelo, who weighs around 153 to 154-pounds as of Tuesday.
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said Canelo was the first individual who made comments regarding a catch-weight and says it doesn't matter if Canelo made the statments in 2011.
"It doesn't matter when he said it," Ellerbe said. "We took advantage of a situation. The kid suggested it himself a long time ago. He put himself out there like that and we’re going to hold his feet to the fire.”
