By Rick Reeno
Wynn, Las Vegas - World Boxing Organization (WBO) President Francisco 'Paco' Valcarcel is standing firm with his prediction that Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (48-1-1, 34KOs) would knock Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26KOs) out in a rematch.
During last month's WBO convention in Puerto Rico, Valcarcel said there was "no doubt in his mind" that Canelo would knock Mayweather out if they ever met again.
Mayweather won a twelve round decision over Canelo back in September of 2013 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight took place at a catch-weight of 152-pounds.
Mayweather retired from the sport last year after winning a twelve round decision over Andre Berto. Now nearing the age of 40, Mayweather has not expressed any real desire to come back to the ring.
In September, Canelo returned to 154-pounds and captured the WBO's junior middleweight title with a knockout of Liam Smith at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Not everyone was happy with Valcarcel's prediction - especially Mayweather's fans.
"That's my opinion. They have to respect my opinion. Canelo, I can say, is 100% better from when he fought Mayweather. He learned from Mayweather. When Mayweather beat him, Mayweather did a great job for Canelo because Canelo is a much better fighter from that fight," Valcarcel told BoxingScene.com.
"Now Canelo is ready to fight anybody... southpaw, orthodox, and he's smart now and I think he's listening to Oscar [De La Hoya] because he's really using the jab. Oscar said that if he used his jab all of the time he would be a much better fighter and he was right, because Canelo is a much better fight. Canelo is going up [in age], 25, 26-years-old and Mayweather is almost 40. Time does not forgive anybody. [To beat Mayweather] he has to hit everywhere. I was talking to Liam Smith after the fight and he said Canelo is a real body puncher."
Valcarcel is also standing firm with his statements which he directed at Canelo's critics - who believe the Mexican superstar is running from a fight with middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
Also during the WBO's convention, Valcarcel questioned why the same critics are not going after Golovkin for refusing to fight Andre Ward in 2015. In his opinion Golovkin wanted to no part of Ward, but the critics gave him a pass - while at the same time blasting Canelo at every turn.
"Nobody said that Golovkin was running when he didn't sign up to fight Andre Ward. If you can not blame Triple G, then you can not blame Canelo," Valcarcel said.
