By Michael Collins: It’s looking like Floyd Mayweather Jr. will take advantage of the Cinco de Mayo holiday on May 5th by taking on unbeaten Mexican Saul Alvarez (39-0-1, 29 KO’s) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Miguel Cotto is supposedly still a possibility but there’s no word yet that Mayweather Jr. will take that fight. It would seem that due to the Mexican holiday on the 5th of May, Alvarez would be by far the better choice.
Alvarez, 21, is an ideal opponent due to his huge fan base in Mexico and in the United States among Mexican fans. Alvarez is a tough fighter with excellent power and good inside fighting skills. He doesn’t have the experience but he could make up for it if he’s able to get inside on Mayweather.
Mayweather Jr. wanted to fight WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao next but the negotiations never really got off the ground due to Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum saying he didn’t know who to contact to start negotiations. It has to be one of the lamest excuses ever by a promoter, but that’s what you get in boxing. It probably doesn’t matter because the boxing world just saw Pacquiao just get exposed by a nearly 40-year-old lightweight in his last fight and it’s no longer interesting to see Mayweather beat up on a guy that was already exposed.
Alvarez defeated Kermit Cintron in his last fight by a 5th round TKO. Alvarez looked powerful in that fight, knocking Cintron down in the 4th round. In his bout previous to that, Alvarez defeated Alfonso Gomez by a 6th round TKO. Alvarez never got out of second gear and looked to be taking it easy on Gomez.
We don’t really know how good Alvarez is right now because he hasn’t been tested as of yet. Alvarez could open some eyes in a fight with Mayweather but it’s not likely.