De La Hoya, Canelo: Making Weight is Not a Problem
Sep 4, 2013 • 12:16 PM ET
By Keith Idec
Neither Oscar De La Hoya nor Saul “Canelo” Alvarez are concerned about Alvarez paying a financial penalty for failing to make weight when he steps on the scale Sept. 13 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
De La Hoya and Alvarez assured reporters on a conference call Tuesday that Alvarez will comfortably get down to the contracted weight of 152 pounds for his WBA/WBC 154-pound title fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Sept. 14 at MGM Grand (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT; Showtime Pay-Per-View; $74.95 in HD).
“There is a penalty, but obviously Saul is going to have no problem making weight whatsoever,” De La Hoya, whose company promotes Alvarez, said regarding a clause in the Mayweather-Alvarez contract. “He made 153 against Austin Trout, with no problem. So Saul is going to have no problem whatsoever.”
Presented with a huge payday (reportedly $12.5 million guaranteed) and an incomparable opportunity, the 23-year-old Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KOs) didn’t hesitate to sign a contract to meet Mayweather (44-0, 26 KOs) below the usual junior middleweight championship limit of 154 pounds. Skeptics speculate that having to lose two more pounds will place Alvarez at an even greater disadvantage against the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
As a rigorous training camp winds down, however, Mexico’s Alvarez insists he feels fresh and isn’t concerned about having to shed two additional pounds prior to the most difficult fight of his eight-year pro career.
“It’s not going to bother me at all,” Alvarez said. “I feel good. I feel very, very good. I’ve been able to make the weight in the past. It’s not a problem. In fact, in my most recent fights I’ve been under [154 pounds] and I really don’t do much [extra] work. So I think it’s going to be fine. I feel very, very good right now. And in fact, I think it’s going to help me. I’ll be a lot faster.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
