Floyd “Money” Mayweather Defeats Saul “Canelo” Alvarez by Majority Decision and Remains Undefeted While Maintaining A Perfect Record of 45 Wins and 0 Losses
45 Laws Of Perfection
by NORRIN RADDICAL
MGM Grand Casino, Las Vegas Nevada – Boxing mega-superstar Floyd “Money” Mayweather, put his perfect unblemished 44-0 professional record and WBA super-welterweight title on the line this past weekend (September 14 2013), against fellow undefeated (42-0-1) and WBC junior middleweight champion, Mexican sensation, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Once again the reigning pound-for-pound best boxer in the world proved his valor, validated his merit, and continued to cement his legacy as one of the true all time greats of the sport, as Mayweather (now 45-0) , well-nigh flawlessly boxed his way to a majority decision victory over a 14 year younger and considerably bigger Alvarez (now 42-1-1). Boxings self-proclaimed “bad-guy”, renowned for his defensive brilliance in the ring, more often than not, stood toe-to-toe in the middle of the squared circle with Alvarez (who outweighed Mayweather by 15 pounds on fight night, 165lbs.-150lbs. respectively), delivering a high-octane arsenal of dexterous blows and combinations from rounds 1 – 12, including straight right hands, a variation on the straight right, the right hook, and the most important punch in boxing, a left jab, that at times was executed with such intensive veracity, that it appeared to be more of a javelin piercing through Alvarez’s attempts at defense, rather than a punch. Alvarez’s offensive endeavors didnt fair much better, as Mayweather in his classic “philly-shell/shoulder-roll” posture, (boxing stance where a fighter holds his lead hand, -left hand for orthodox, right hand for southpaws-, across his upper abdomen or sternum, while holding the other hand -power hand- high and close to side of the head for guard while tucking the chin in behind the lead shoulder, a position utilized for years by many great boxers throughout the decades, but popularized, familiarized and refined by the Mayweather family boxing style), eluded, blocked and deflected nearly all of Alvarez’s blows, causing the young champion to throw a high volume of air-shots, missing his opponent completely, or at best, connecting with Mayweathers elbows, but rarely if ever landing a glove on any vital areas, such as Mayweathers chin or torso. Contrary to the pre-fight prognostications of many fans and so-called experts alike, it was Mayweather and not Alvarez, who was the aggressive stalker during the bout, routinely walking-down the bigger man, before tatooing him with blisteringly accurate combinations of jabs, lead right hands and uppercuts, that at times sent Alvarez’s notable red-headed mane skyward, towards the lights of the MGM Grand. Ironically, Alvarez found himself playing the mongoose to Mayweathers swift, venomous cobraesque strikes, even resorting to possum cajolery, ala Ali-Foreman, by laying on the ropes and enticing Mayweather to come over and pummel him, with the hopes that Mayweather would become careless and possibly even tire himself out, leaving himself vulnerable for a big counter shot to be landed on the chin by Alvarez. However, unlike the Rumble in the Jungle, there was no dope to rope, as Mayweather inerrantly employed his greatest, though perhaps least appreciated, pugilistic tool, one that even suprasses his advanced technical prowess of jabs, right hands, defense and footwork. That invaluable asset being, his ring IQ. Mayweathers combat intelligence and ability to mentally adjust in nano-seconds to the efforts of his opposition, conflated with a natural genetic aptitude for boxing and 17 years of consistent championship experience (making Mayweather the longest reigning champion in the history of boxing), is what has converged to make him unequivocally the best boxer of his generation and arguably the best of all time. While Alvarez tried laying on the ropes in hope of baiting Mayweather into a trap, Mayweather simply continued to box from the outside, peppering Alvarez with combinations from a comfortable distance, eventually turning the tables and luring Alvarez back to the center of the squared circle, where Mayweather went back to work in typical surgical fashion, dissecting with offensive precision and neutralizing all of Alvarez’s efforts with inimitable defense, despite the frequent, and subsequently waning, outbursts of “Ca-ne-lo…Ca-ne-lo…Ca-ne-lo” from the large Mexican turn-out at the MGM, for support of their young champion on this Mexican Independence Day weekend.
Although the final number of pay-per-view buys for the Mayweather-“Canelo” Alvarez mega-fight dubbed “The One”, have yet to be officially calculated, it was already known that the record for gate revenue was already set by the Mayweather-Alvarez bout, as well as on Mexican Televisa, with 22 million viewers in 6 million households, a new all time high and record was set for boxing viewership in Mexico. While the 23 year-old Mexican, former champion, is reported to earn in the neighborhood of $10 million for his courageous efforts, Mayweathers purse guarantee of $41.5 million, will be significantly augmented by his position as co-promoter of the mega-event (another Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions joint venture, as has been the case for Mayweathers last 8 bouts), with figures of somewhere between $80 – $100 million being estimated for Mayweathers total earnings after all revenues for the event are tallied up.
Conspicuous by his absence, was Mayweathers co-promoter himself, Golden Boy Promotions founder and former boxing world champion and U.S. Olympic gold medalist, Oscar De La Hoya, who in the week leading up to the star-studded fight, checked himself into rehab for substance abuse. As humans, none are immune to the vices of a society in which one exists, so there can be little if any criticism leveled towards De La Hoya in his efforts and pursuit to manage and heal his addictions (with which we all hope for his healthy and timely recovery), however the timing of De La Hoyas decision to enter rehab has garnered a few justifiable head scratches and raised eyebrows. While De La Hoya has adopted and embraced Alvarez as his personal protégé’, one has to wonder how or why someone decides, of all times, to not be present on your prized apprentices coming out party onto the grand stage. Would De La Hoyas attendance have altered the outcome of the fight. No, not at all. After all its not like he could get in the ring and fight for Alvarez, (by the way De La Hoya lost to Mayweather via split decision, in the previously highest grossing fight and pay-per-view event of all time back in 2007), but still, the absence of his mentor, could not have been a welcomed turn of events for Canelo.
In one last somewhat bizarre occurrence, (well, maybe bizarre, if it wasnt the sport of boxing), in a fight that was nearly plenarily perceived to be a shut-out pitched by Mayweather, by all viewers, on-lookers and spectators, even by the most ardent, tribal Mexican supporters of Alvarez in attendance at the MGM, the scorecards, however, did not and failed to, reflect that same ubiquity of perception. Judges scorecards for the bout read, 117-111, 116-112 and the totally bewildering, inexplicable score of 114-114, being tantamount to a draw, having to have had scored an equal number of rounds for each fighter (even the score of 116-112 by the standards of most boxing purists and pundits, was itself a score that was much too close to be accurately indicative of the action that took place in the ring, as many found it difficult to score even a single round in Alvarez’s favor and had the score a literal shutout of 120-108, all 12 rounds for Mayweather). The judge who scored the fight 114-114, effectively and in stark, diametric, counterintuitive opposition to all things visible and, or rational, was Cynthia “C.J.” Ross, who by the way, also was a judge in last years controversial, upset victory of Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley over Manny “Pac-Man” Paquiao, in which she scored that match 115-113 in favor of Tim Bradley. Less than a week after the fight, following the backlash of harsh (and well deserved) criticism for her incompetence, ineptitude and spurious performance as a judge for a professional prize fight of this magnitude, Ross has summarily and officially taken an indefinite leave of absence from the sport of boxing and her duties as a professional boxing judge, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Lets all hope, just as in the case of Floyd Mayweathers greatness in the ring, she remains consistent in her decision.
