Mayweather Jr., Alvarez to fight Sept. 14 at MGM Grand
After handling Robert Guerrero with ease May 4, Floyd Mayweather Jr. said he would return to the ring in September.
He made it official Wednesday, announcing he will fight unbeaten WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden on Showtime Pay Per View. The fight will be contested at a catch weight of 152 pounds and will be for Alvarez’s belt and Mayweather’s junior middleweight and welterweight world titles.
“I’m very excited,” Alvarez said Wednesday from the offices of his promoter, Golden Boy Promotions. “There’s a saying that to be a successful hunter, one must be patient. I’ve been very patient, and now I have the fight I want.”
Mayweather co-manager Leonard Ellerbe said Mayweather (44-0, 26 knockouts) wanted to fight the 22-year-old Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KOs) all along. But first, he had to take care of Guerrero.
“From day one, Floyd made it very clear he wanted to fight Canelo Alvarez,” Ellerbe said. “This is what the fans want. It’s the biggest and best fight out there, and now it’s going to happen.”
Ellerbe said Mayweather’s right hand, injured in the Guerrero fight, is fine and he has no physical issues. The catch weight agreed upon is not an issue, either.
“Canelo can come in at 200 pounds if he wants to; he’ll still get his butt whipped,” Ellerbe said. “Floyd is the best athlete in sports. He won’t have any problems with 152 pounds.”
Alvarez said he wasn’t willing to take the fight at 147 pounds but can deal with 152.
“I’m going to have to work a little harder, but I have plenty of time to get ready,” said Alvarez, who won a 12-round unanimous decision over Austin Trout on April 20 in his most recent fight. “It was a little give and take on both sides, but we got it done.”
When the 36-year-old Mayweather signed a deal in February with Showtime that could pay him more than $200 million for six fights in 30 months, few in boxing thought he would honor the contract. But he said on his Twitter account Wednesday that he wants to give fans what they want.
“Once we knew Floyd’s hand was good enough for him to fight, we started having serious negotiations the last couple of weeks,” said Richard Schaefer, chief executive officer of Golden Boy Promotions. “We were able to reach a general agreement pretty quickly. … In the end, we have the fight on the terms both fighters are comfortable with, and we can give the fans what they want.”
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.