Canelo Alvarez has only lost twice in his storied career but when he lost his first ever fight against Floyd Mayweather, it was more than just a loss.
On September 13, Canelo Alvarez returns to action after defending his undisputed super middleweight title earlier this year, when he takes on Terence Crawford in a super fight at the Allegiant Stadium.
The blockbuster fight comes on the inaugural event promoted by Dana White and Turki Alalshikh after announcing the creation of TKO boxing earlier this year.
Canelo will once again be hoping to take down one of the biggest names in the sport, further adding to his already incredible legacy by taking Crawford’s undefeated record.
And he will be hoping to do so in the same way Floyd Mayweather did to him when they clashed for the light middleweight titles in 2013.
Photo by Al Bello/Getty ImagesMayweather earned ‘boxing record purse’ when he handed Canelo first-ever loss
In early 2011, Canelo won the WBC light middleweight title when he and Matthew Hatton clashed for the vacant title in California.
After going on to defend the strap six times in extremely impressive fashion, the then-23-year-old was booked for the biggest fight of his career against the pound-for-pound number one, ‘Money’ Mayweather.
At that point, Mayweather’s career had pretty much gone flawlessly having not suffered a loss and all of his wins being relatively comprehensive, apart from his controversial win over Victor Ortiz.
Heading into their fight, the Mexican champion was deemed to be Mayweather’s toughest test to date, especially considering the size difference between the two champions.
Despite that, ‘Money’ Mayweather went on to put on a masterclass, schooling Canelo and handing him his first career loss.
Judge C.J. Ross scored the fight 114-114 which was highly controversial, with the other two judges scoring it in favor of Mayweather 116-112 and 117-111. Not long after the fight, Ross retired from judging following the controversy.
According to Mayweather’s right hand man, Leonard Ellerbe, the champion received a boxing record guaranteed purse of over $41.5 million.
Floyd Mayweather slammed Canelo when giving his opinion on the Mexican
Years after the two shared the ring together and Mayweather subsequently retired, the former pound-for-pound number one utterly slammed Canelo when providing his honest opinion on the Mexican.
“You can take a guy like Canelo. I’ll tell you the truth about Canelo. The mother—— was easy. A cakewalk, easy. You’re all praising this dude. He was nothing. I was almost 40 and I cooked this dude, easy,” Mayweather told FightHype.
In a different interview, ‘Money’ labeled Crawford as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, clearly showing who he is siding with in the upcoming fight.