Mike Tyson’s hugely successful and constantly entertaining and informative ‘Hot Boxin” podcast enjoyed another big-name guest as it undertook its latest episode. Pound-for-Pound king Canelo Alvarez spoke about his career with the former heavyweight king, with the Mexican superstar talking a fair bit about his massive 2013 fight with Floyd Mayweather, this the sole loss on Canelo’s pro record. As fans know, Mayweather schooled Canelo over the course of the 12 largely one-sided rounds, sending the much younger man home with a decision loss (crazily, a majority decision loss, this due to some, well, crazy scoring by one of the three judges, who somehow managed to turn in a drawn verdict).
Looking back on the fight almost eight years later, current super-middleweight champ Canelo says he needed more experience before tackling Mayweather, yet at the same time the 30-year old says he does not look at the fight as a loss.
“I know what happened, I’m going to be with my trainer all my life, because I know. When I fought with Floyd, I was 23,” Canelo told Tyson. “I always think I needed to fight first with [Miguel] Cotto, [Erislandy] Lara and all of those guys and then Floyd. But it is what it is. I needed more experience, more maturity. I don’t take that fight like a loss, I learned from that fight.”
We will never know what might have happened had Canelo faced Cotto and Lara before getting in there with Mayweather, but perhaps the experience he gained during the course of those 24 rounds (Canelo winning decisions over both men) would have added enough to Canelo’s game for him to have been able to give “Money” a far tougher time of things. Even then, though, it’s hard to make a case that strongly argues Canelo would have beaten Mayweather in 2014 or 2015. But again, we will never know. The point is, Canelo showed great character in coming back from the 12 round defeat, this instead of being discouraged and feeling sorry for himself. There is no doubt, Canelo did learn from the Mayweather fight and he returned as a better fighter. To this day, after all he has achieved, Canelo says the win he scored over Cotto ranks as his best night, his biggest and most meaningful win.
Next up as fans know, will be Billy Joe Saunders, who Canelo will fight over Cinco de Mayo weekend this May. If victorious, Canelo will add another belt to his growing collection at 168 pounds. As for Tyson, he told Canelo and his trainer Eddy Reynoso that he aims to fight again in late May, in Miami. Tyson returned for that big exhibition bout with Roy Jones and now the 54 year old (55 in June) wants another bout.
“End of May, where you fought, same arena you fought in,” Tyson told Canelo with regards to the date of his own next fight. “May 29, something like that. Right where you fought.”
So it looks we can brace ourselves for Tyson’s next bout, be it an exhibition or something else, to go down at The Hard Rock in Miami, Florida. Will Tyson’s second return bout prove to be as big as the Jones affair (1.6 million PPV buys)?
