While Manny Pacquiao is trying to find some spot in the Far East to fight so as to save money on taxes, Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez, who represent the present and future in terms of boxing’s star power, will reportedly appear in separate bouts as part of a May 4 double-header at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Their opponents are somewhat unsung, but have certainly earned their opportunities – WBC interim welterweight champ Robert Guerrero and WBA light middleweight titleholder Austin Trout.
These days, a lot of the news comes down the pike from Twitter, and on Friday afternoon Alvarez made this tweet in his account: “Canelo vs Trout may 4 MGM.”
That fight would unify the WBA and WBC titles at 154 pounds.
A southpaw, Trout is undefeated as a pro (26-0), and sealed himself as someone with solid credentials for this kind of payday when he scored an impressive, decisive decision over Miguel Cotto on December 1. In fact, he won that fight by ten points on one judge’s scorecard. Some people don’t know this, but Trout has actually been a world champion for two years, having won his WBA belt in February of 2011 against Rigoberto Alvarez, who just happens to be Canelo’s brother. So there’s a little family revenge angle at work.
At the age of 22, Alvarez already has 42 professional fights, and though he has scored wins over the likes of Kermit Cintron, Carlos Baldomir, Shane Mosley and Josesito Lopez, the fight with Trout will probably be his toughest career test.
Mayweather has something in common with Trout in that his last fight was against Miguel Cotto, who put forth a much more spirited effort last May 5 in a fight for the WBA “Super” title at 154 pounds. Mayweather also recaptured the WBC 147-pound crown when he knocked out Victor Ortiz in September 2011. He later vacated it and Guerrero won it on an interim basis. That title would be on the line against Pretty Boy Floyd
Like Trout, Guerrero is a southpaw. And like Mayweather, he has been decorated with multiple titles. The “Ghost” has dropped only one fight as a pro, to Gamaliel Diaz, but then he has gone on a roll that has brought him IBF titles at featherweight and junior lightweight; the WBA and WBO titles at lightweight, and the interim WBC welterweight crown. He last saw action on November 24, when he won a clear decision over Andre Berto, sending his opponent to the canvas twice.
It was immediately after the Berto fight that Guerrero was being discussed seriously as a Mayweather opponent by Golden Boy Promotions. While Mayweather was said to consider Guerrero to be a “safe” foe, Floyd was not committing to it 100%. In fact, last week all indications were that he wanted to fight Devon Alexander instead.
Technically speaking, although he has agreed to it, he probably still hasn’t committed to it on the dotted line, meaning that he hasn’t inked a contract. In boxing, a lot of fights are “announced” without having been signed. While Alvarez posted his message on Twitter, his trainer, former pro fighter Louie Burke, told the El Paso Times “I think he jumped the gun just a bit. But the fight appears to be about 99 percent set. We’re very hopeful and we feel we’re the leading contender for this fight.”
Of course, there is speculation, as there often is, that when two stars are in separate fights on the same “mega-card” it is for the purposes of previewing an even bigger fight between them. That might well be the case here, and in the absence of any serious talk about a fight with Pacquiao, it would seem that a fight with Alvarez is going to be the 36-year-old Mayweather’s best alternative.