By Miguel Rivera
43 men have tried and failed, but now WBC/WBA junior middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KOs) will try to unseat Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26KOs) from his pound-for-pound throne. The fight is set for September 14th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Chepo Reynoso, manager and trainer of Canelo, says Mayweather's age of 36 will not play a role in the fight. Canelo will be 23-year-old by the time of the match.
"We have the opportunity that we've been waiting for, we as a team and Saul Canelo as a fighter. A date that we've been working for since the start of our work together...we've always craved to demonstrate our quality of everyone. We are thinking about our strategy [to win]. We have youth on our side, but we do not think it will be a factor. What stalled up the negotiations was the weight. We were not going to expose Canelo to [a clause of] going down to 147, and then 150-pounds that Mayweather requested and we did not accept. In the end, we agreed on 152 as the weight and Saul can make that smoothly and without giving away any advantages," Reynoso said.
The coach also says the entire team made the right decision two years ago, when they rejected the opportunity to face Mayweather - because they felt Canelo was lacking the proper experience.
"Thank God we listened and did not accept. Time has proved us right and now we're sure that we are going to beat Mayweather," Reynoso said.
