Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez has had his say on the credentials of former rival Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The 34-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico faced ‘Money’ back over 10-years ago in a defence of his WBC light middleweight crown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Mayweather was declared the winner via split decision, with two out of the three scorecards going in his favour, and the other scored as a 114-114 draw by judge C.J. Ross who went on to retire after the fight due to the amount of criticism that he received.
Canelo bounced back from this defeat, going on to win the following 15 fights of his tenure and capturing both the unified middleweight titles and the undisputed super middleweight championship, the first man within the ‘four belt era’ to do so.
Speaking on The Full Send podcast, the Mexican icon gave plaudits to his former opponent, admitting he was a ‘complete’ fighter.
“He has everything.”
“He’s experienced, he’s so smart. He is a complete fighter. He doesn’t have power in the punches but when you are that kind of fighter you don’t need it.”
Mayweather drew the curtain on his glittering career shortly after beating MMA legend Conor McGregor in 2017, in what was his 50th consecutive professional victory. However, Canelo himself disputes Mayweather’s ‘undisputed’ status, suggesting that Oscar De La Hoya deserved the victory over ‘Money’ back in May 2007.
The 48-year-old from Grand Rapids, Michigan became a five-division world champion during his tenure, racking up legacy defining victories against the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto.
‘Money’ has had a number of exhibition contests since exiting the professional ranks, sharing the ring with both Logan Paul and Tenshin Nasukawa to name a few.
