By: Hans Themistode
At the time, Canelo Alvarez believed he was as ready as can be.
Going into his 2013 showdown against Floyd Mayweather Jr., the prevailing thought surrounding their contest was that the Mexican product was good but he simply wasn’t prepared for what Mayweather brought to the table.
In the mind of Alvarez though, the timing was perfect. At the age of 23, Mayweather was considerably older at 36. Despite the age gap, Mayweather proved that regardless of youth being on the side of Alvarez, experience was firmly in his corner.
Fast forward seven years later and Mayweather has long since retired while Alvarez has gone unbeaten since then. Looking back now, the current unified super middleweight champion believes the opponents he took on after he fought Mayweather should have come before he stepped into the ring against him.
“I always think I needed to fight first with (Miguel) Cotto, (Erislandy) Lara and all of those guys and then Floyd,” said Alvarez on Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson. “I needed more experience and more maturity.”
Alvarez would eventually face and defeat both Cotto and Lara, but not before Mayweather, which in part, Alvarez believes led to his majority decision loss. A dejected Alvarez sulked on his way back to his locker on the night as it was the first, and so far only, loss of his career. While he admits that he was disappointed in his performance, he has since turned that negative outcome into a positive.
The Mexican superstar has gone on to win world titles in four different weight classes and is currently attempting to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all-time.
Like any typical boxing match, Alvarez sits back as both his name and record are said out loud by the ring announcer before any of his bouts officially begin. While the number in the win column has continued to go up, the one-loss on his resume continues to stay the same.
Although he isn’t arguing against the judge’s decision on that night to hand Mayweather the victory, Alvarez doesn’t view his loss to the newly elected Hall of Famer as such.
More than anything, it was a teachable moment simply disguised as a defeat.
“I don’t think that fight like I lose. I take that fight like I learn from that fight.”
