Was facing Mayweather in 2013 good or bad for Canelo's career?

[La Kueef]

Yes they did over 2.2M PPVs and gained a lot of exposure, but, Canelo also took a huge loss, was schooled and embarrassed in the ring, lost his aura of invincibility, and disappointed many of his fans. That loss will hurt forever.

Imagine if Canelo didn't face Mayweather, Canelo would still be an undefeated phenom, like Golovkin. He would have more drawing power and popularity. People would be going crazy over him by now and may even favor him against Golovkin. And if he does fight Mayweather now it would be even bigger.

I remember before the Mayweather fight, the Canelo mania and hype was unreal.

So overall was it a bad idea to let Canelo fight Floyd that early and get exposed? Should they have waited a bit longer, or avoided Mayweather all together?

[Sugar Adam Ali]

It was the perfect time to take that fight..


You have to be an idiot to turn down a superfight, they don't come along every day.


Canelo got more exposure in that fight, than he has in his entire career. Plus it was a blockbuster amd solidified Canelo's status as a major PPv player

[Ricky Bahl]

It was the perfect time to take that fight..


You have to be an idiot to turn down a superfight, they don't come along every day.


Canelo got more exposure in that fight, than he has in his entire career. Plus it was a blockbuster amd solidified Canelo's status as a major PPv player

Disagree, IMO Canelo should have waited. Given how big Floyd and Canelo both are, that fight was probably always gonna be there.

[Scipio2009]

Yes they did over 2.2M PPVs and gained a lot of exposure, but, Canelo also took a huge loss, was schooled and embarrassed in the ring, lost his aura of invincibility, and disappointed many of his fans. That loss will hurt forever.

Imagine if Canelo didn't face Mayweather, Canelo would still be an undefeated phenom, like Golovkin. He would have more drawing power and popularity. People would be going crazy over him by now and may even favor him against Golovkin. And if he does fight Mayweather now it would be even bigger.

I remember before the Mayweather fight, the Canelo mania and hype was unreal.

So overall was it a bad idea to let Canelo fight Floyd that early and get exposed? Should they have waited a bit longer, or avoided Mayweather all together?

Kind of stretching the metaphor, but Alvarez being in a sword fight with arguably the best swordsman to ever pick up a blade gave him supreme experience that made his sword work that much better.

Alvarez was showing flashes of it earlier (particularly in the Austin Trout fight), but Alvarez doesn't box as smooth as he did against Cotto (before he had to really pace himself late) or set up Amir Khan with that massive shot (bait jab, to deliver his own massive shot, while still being defensively aware enough to get out of the way and bee in position to fire again) were it not for the experience of having to mentally work through being in the ring with Floyd for 12 rounds.

If Alvarez hadn't fought Floyd, he'd still be undefeated, but no one would have any real gauge for how good he could actually be (which is the same thing that's plaguing "Mr 97k" Golovkin). The Latin fans were already headlong into Canelo-mania, but the Floyd fight made sure that Alvarez got introduced, as a feature guy, to the general PPV audience/casual fan that's helped make Floyd richer than he could've ever imagined; pulled the Floyd fight, and do folks like Jack Nicholson turn out for Canelo just yet? I'm not sure.

Beyond that, the beauty of taking the Floyd fight when he took it, no matter how much Oscar tried to say otherwise, was that the performance showed that 1)Alvarez had definitive top-level ability and 2)he was simply too inexperienced/young to be in there with Floyd anyway.

Delay the fight all you want, you put on the fight when Alvarez is viewed as having blossomed into his physical prime, and Floyd still schools him (Alvarez is better for having the experience, but Floyd's ring IQ would still have me placing him as the favorite), you end up actually killing the golden goose (with the excuse of being inexperienced no longer holding water).

Facing Floyd was the best thing that could've happened to Alvarez, regardless of the result.

[Chuckguy]

It was both. Good for him facing such a technician at such a young age
Bad because he is now a diva and it shows with his whole 155 bs and now look at him

[jmrf4435]

How would it not be a good thing? He was so young at the time it was a great learning experience and form of exposure. Not to mention the obscene amount of money he made.

He lost to a hall of famer, then beat a bunch.

[Motorcity Cobra]

Best thing that ever happened to Canelo. That's like if Kobe as a rookie played Jordan one-on-one. He wouldn't beat him but he would have moments that gave him the confidence of knowing he belonged on the court with him. He sees how hard Jordan works and what it takes to be at that level. He knows he will someday be at that level and he puts in the work and improves.

[TheCell8]

It was a bad decision because his reputation took a hit from a very bad performance. Had he not faced Mayweather he'd still be the biggest star in the sport today, only more marketable and undefeated. I'm also not buying that he 'learned' something from that fight. When you get beaten, more like embarrassed, the way he did you don't learn anything from that or than which opponents to select.

All he did was take an L and collect a paycheck.

[Redd Foxx]

A lot of us were saying it was too early. Canelo was pretty raw and not entirely proven. Too early.

The silver lining is that he learned a ton from that fight and has sense developed a sense of urgency that he never had before that fight.

[lopetego]

What are you talking about? Canelo never fought Mayweather. Drainelo did

Drainelo, that weakass zombie who couldn't even stay straight in the press conference, they had to bring a chair because he was about to collapse.

Mayweather beat a green as a cucumber zombie who couldn't even make 154, much less a bs catchweight of 152