LOS ANGELES, August 14 – It’s a double shot of “Golden Boy Classics” on Thursday, August 15, as the countdown to “THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO” continues on FOX Deportes with two memorable battles from the careers of Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Danny “Swift” Garcia.

In the opener at 9:00 p.m. ET, Garcia proves that he’s ready for the best in the business when he takes on former world champion Kendall Holt in a 2011 matchup. Then it’s the main event at 10:00 p.m., as two of the best of this era, Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto, square off in a quest for 154-pound supremacy.

Superior against anyone and everyone put in front of him for years, Floyd Mayweather’s boxing dominance was internationally recognized. But on May 5, 2012, “Money” gave the fans an even more impressive show as he stood and traded with hard-hitting Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto, pounding out a 12 round unanimous decision that proved Mayweather’s ability to do it all in the ring once again.

Having won all of his 21 previous fights, Philadelphia’s Danny Garcia was one win away from a shot at a world title when he faced former WBO champion Kendall Holt at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on October 15, 2011. And though Garcia got the win and went on to take a world title in his next fight, he had to go to war with Holt for 12 rounds to do it, earning a hard-fought split decision.

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“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts, AT&T, Valvoline, Mexico Tourism, Fred Loya Insurance and Nature Nutrition. In the 12-round co-featured attraction, WBC, WBA Super and Ring Magazine Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia and thunderous puncher WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Lucas Matthysse square off in a fight presented in association with Swift Promotions and Arano Box Promotions. Also, Ishe Smith vs. Carlos Molina square off in a 12-round battle for Smith’s IBF Junior Middleweight World Title. Smith vs. Molina is promoted in association with Warriors Boxing. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

Less than 24 hours after going on sale on June 25, the event was sold out, but six MGM Resorts properties will host live closed circuit telecasts of “THE ONE.” Properties showcasing the event include ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York. General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and are available for purchase at each individual property’s box office outlets and also are available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets also will be available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets for closed circuit viewing at MGM Grand, ARIA, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York are now on sale.

For more information visitwww.goldenboypromotions.com, www.FOXDeportes.com and follow on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing andwww.twitter.com/FOXDeportes and visit on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, and www.facebook.com/FOXDeportes.

LOS ANGELES, August 7 – The biggest boxing event of 2013 is a little over a month away and with anticipation rising, FOX Deportes will do their part to get fight fans ready for “THE ONE: Mayweather vs. Canelo” with three hours of “Golden Boy Classics” on Saturday, August 10 beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

First up is the 2010 battle between former World Champion Zab Judah and WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Lucas Matthysse. Then at 10:00 p.m., Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia challenges the legendary Erik Morales for his first World Championship in 2012 and in the main event at 11:00 p.m., Floyd “Money” Mayweather meets former World Champion Miguel Cotto in their epic May 2012 clash.

Dominant against anyone and everyone put in front of him for years, Floyd Mayweather’s boxing dominance was internationally recognized. But on May 5, 2012, “Money” gave the fans an even more impressive show as he stood and traded with hard-hitting Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto, pounding out a 12 round unanimous decision that proved Mayweather’s ability to do it all in the ring once again.

Despite his success on the way up the 140-pound ladder, no one outside of his team knew how Danny Garcia would react to facing a legend like Erik Morales in Houston, Texas on March 24, 2012. But in his first world title fight, Philadelphia’s Garcia rose to the occasion, dropping Morales in the 11th round en route to a 12-round decision win that earned him the WBC 140-pound crown.

Two Division World Champion Zab Judah had to walk through fire when he faced off with Lucas Matthysse at New Jersey’s Prudential Center on November 6, 2010. Judah rose from the canvas in the 10th round against his then-unbeaten foe to pound out a 12-round split decision. Many left the arena that night believing Matthysse was the victor, but the Argentinean banger would get his shot at glory soon enough.

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“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Valvoline, Mexico Tourism, Fred Loya Insurance and Nature Nutrition. In the 12-round co-featured attraction, WBC, WBA Super and Ring Magazine Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia and thunderous punching WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Lucas Matthysse square off in a fight presented in association with Swift Promotions and Arano Box Promotions. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

Less than 24 hours after going on sale on June 25, the event was sold out, but six MGM Resorts properties will host live closed circuit telecasts of “THE ONE.” Properties showcasing the event include ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York. General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and are available for purchase at each individual property’s box office outlets and also are available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets also will be available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets for closed circuit viewing at MGM Grand, ARIA, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York are now on sale.

For more information visitwww.goldenboypromotions.com, www.FOXDeportes.com and follow on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing andwww.twitter.com/FOXDeportes and visit on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, and www.facebook.com/FOXDeportes

LOS ANGELES, (August 8, 2013) – Just when fight fans thought “THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO” couldn’t get any bigger, the opening two Pay-Per-View bouts of the September 14 mega-card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas have been announced, with a third world championship bout and a meeting of two rising stars making this the must-see event of 2013.

In a 12-round battle for the IBF Junior Middleweight World Championship, Mayweather Promotions star and Las Vegas’ own Ishe “Sugar Shay” Smith defends his crown for the first time against feared top contender Carlos Molina. The opening bout on the SHOWTIME PPV will be a 10-round welterweight showdown between Mexico’s
Pablo Cesar “El Demoledor” Cano and England’s Ashley “Treasure” Theophane, the most recent fighter to sign with Mayweather Promotions.

“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts, AT&T, Valvoline, Mexico Tourism, Fred Loya Insurance and Nature Nutrition. In the 12-round co-featured attraction, WBC, WBA Super and Ring Magazine Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia and thunderous puncher WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Lucas Matthysse square off in a fight presented in association with Swift Promotions and Arano Box Promotions. Also, Ishe Smith vs. Carlos Molina square off in a 12-round battle for Smith’s IBF Junior Middleweight World Title. Smith vs. Molina is promoted in association with Warriors Boxing. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

Less than 24 hours after going on sale in June, the event was sold out, but six MGM Resorts properties will host live closed circuit telecasts of “THE ONE.” Properties showcasing the event include ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York. General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and are available for purchase at each individual property’s box office outlets and also are available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

After a long career that saw him go from the world of reality television as a star on “The Contender” to a series of ups and downs at 154 and 160 pounds, Las Vegas’ Ishe “Sugar Shay” Smith (25-5, 11 KO’s) finally put it all together in late 2010, beginning a four fight winning streak that culminated in a 12 round decision win over Cornelius Bundrage on February 23 earning the 34-year-old the IBF Junior Middleweight World Championship. Now the reign of “Sugar Shay” begins with a hometown bout against the always-tough Molina.

Long avoided by the elite at 154 pounds, Patzcuaro, Mexico native Carlos Molina (21-5-2, 6 KO’s) is finally getting his shot at championship gold on September 14 after a decade slugging it out in the ring. Now making his home in Chicago, the 30-year-old Molina began making noise with his disputed draw against Erislandy Lara in 2011, and he has since won four of five bouts, defeating former world champions Kermit Cintron and Cory Spinks, with his only loss coming via controversial DQ against James Kirkland in March of 2012.

Mexico’s Pablo Cesar “El Demoledor” Cano (26-3-1, 20 KO’s), like countryman and headliner Canelo Alvarez, will have a nation in his corner when he steps between the ropes on September 14. Given the controversial nature of his recent decision losses to Paulie Malignaggi and Shane Mosley, the 23-year-old plans on giving the judges the night off by scoring a defining knockout of Theophane. A pro since 2006, Cano can do it all in the ring, and in his first Las Vegas fight since his classic 2011 battle with the legendary Erik Morales, he vows to put on a show.

A proud native of London, England, 32-year-old Ashley “Treasure” Theophane (33-5-1, 10 KO’s) is a graduate of the School of Hard Knocks in the ring and is finally getting his chance to shine on the world stage. A former British junior welterweight champion, the talented Theophane owns victories over Delvin Rodriguez and DeMarcus Corley, and he gave current world champion Danny Garcia one of his toughest fights in 2010 before losing a split decision. Winner of two straight, Theophane is looking to prove that he was made for the bright lights of Las Vegas.

For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com,www.goldenboypromotions.com,
www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @FloydMayweather, @CaneloOficial, @DannySwift, @Ishesugarshay, @MayweatherPromo, @GoldenBoyBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #TheOne and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FloydMayweather, www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions, www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOsports.

The announcement Thursday that Lucas-Matthysse and Danny Garcia will fight on the Floyd-Mayweather Jr.-Canelo Alvarez undercard on Sept. 14 is a further sign that the fractured business is moving beyond the usual chaos with a real plan.

Imagine that.

For just about as long as anybody can recall, good fights came together by happenstance, coincidence or dumb luck. But Matthysse-Garcia makes the September card at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand look like a blueprint on what the Golden Boy-Showtime alliance hopes to do in 2014. Mayweather’s contract with Showtime is worth a possible $250 million if he fights five more times. The beginning, Mayweather’s one-sided decision in May over Robert Guerrero, was just the tune-up. With Canelo, Mayweather enters the meat-and-potatoes of the deal.

He’s favored to beat Canelo. The guess here is that Canelo will lose, yet earn a shot at a rematch in a close fight on the scorecards. It’s safe to guess that Showtime is hoping for the same thing. Pay-per-view revenue, a projected record-setter, adds up to a lot of reasons for an encore. It’s a gamble, of course. One big punch can demolish any blueprint, but few expect Canelo to deliver one against the clever, ever elusive Mayweather.

The one-punch danger looms larger for Top Rank, Golden Boy’s bitter rival, in Manny Pacquiao’s comeback against Brandon Rios on Nov. 23 in Macao. Before Pacquiao was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in December, Rios looked as if he might go the way of Ricky Hatton, who in 2009 was stopped by the Filipino Congressman by one of the biggest punches in the last decade.

But that was before a Marquez right landed like a wrecking ball. Now, Pacquiao, also beaten in a controversial decision in 2012 by Tim Bradley, appears vulnerable. A Pacquiao victory looks critical to Top Rank’s hope of success in China.

If Rios finishes what Bradley and Marquez started with an upset of Pacquiao, Top Rank isn’t left with many options. In Matthysse-Garcia, Golden Boy has at least one, if not a couple.

The winner figures to move to the front of the line for a shot at Mayweather, assuming he beats Canelo. Even if Canelo scores an upset, there’s a Mexican and Mexican-American audience that will follow the redhead in even greater numbers. If Pacquiao gets beat, he probably retires and – for a while – takes the Asian market with him.

From now until Sept. 14, it’s safe to say that Mayweather and Canelo won’t talk about Matthysse-Garcia in a junior-welterweight bout with Fight of the Year potential. But Matthysse-Garcia wouldn’t be on the card if that wasn’t a possibility. Canelo was supposed to have fought Austin Trout on the Mayweather-Guerrero card for the same reason.

He moved off the card and fought in San Antonio, beating Trout before a crowd of nearly 40,000. Above all, it was a statement of Canelo’s ability to be a star in his own right. He gained leverage in negotiations. In terms of Sept. 14, however, it doesn’t matter. He’s still fighting Mayweather and he would have, regardless of whether he had beaten Trout in Las Vegas, San Antonio or Guadalajara.

Meanwhile, Matthysse’ unmistakable power gives him an edge over Garcia, who has some defensive liabilities. He can get hit. Just one from Matthysse possesses fight-stopping voltage. That was seen in stunning fashion in Matthysse’s third-round stoppage of Lamont Peterson on May 18 in Atlantic City.

That’s when Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer called Matthysse the “new Manny Pacquiao.”

The old one never figured to be in the Golden Boy plan anyway.

AZ Notes
Iron Boy Promotions will stage its eighth card Saturday night at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. Lightweight Juan Garcia (18-3, 7 KO) is scheduled for the main event on a 14-fight card. First bell is scheduled for 6 p.m. (PST).

Richard Scahefer just announced that Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse will fight for the Super Lightweight championship of the world on September 14th as part of the mega Floyd Mayweather – Canelo Alvarez card.

“The one just got another One said”, said Schaefer

“These are two modern day gladitors. For all those who thought Danny was scared of Lucas. Well you know you all have egg on his face”

“This is a main event in its own”, said Maywweather Promotions CEO Promotions Leonard Ellerbe.

There will be a three city press tour in Puerto Rico, New York and Los Angeles

“This is the fight I wanted and the fight that I asked for. That is why I’m so happy this fight has been made and will be a part of this huge event,” said Danny Garcia. “I’m more confident than ever in my abilities and I’m going to show it on September 14. Matthysse is a good fighter and has a big punch, but I’m a talented fighter with what it takes to be a champion and stay that way. This is an opportunity for the world to see what I can really do in the ring.”

“I’m glad I finally get a chance to fight Danny Garcia,” said Lucas Matthysse. “This is the fight that the entire boxing world (especially my country Argentina) and I wanted. I want to thank my promoters Golden Boy Promotions and Mario Arano for making this fight possible. On September 14, I will show the world that I am the best 140 pound fighter on the planet.”

“Floyd was adamant about giving fans what they wanted to see when he chose Canelo Alvarez as his opponent for his September 14 fight,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. “We’re thrilled that Garcia vs. Matthysse has been added to the card, and that fans will be getting even more boxing at its best.”

“The compelling match-up between Garcia and Matthysse could absolutely be its own main event,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “We’ve added another fight that fans have been clamoring for to an already stellar night of boxing. With the addition of this mega fight we are certain that “THE ONE” will continue to break boxing records.”

“Boxing is at its finest when the best step up to fight the best, and this is what we have with Mayweather and Canelo and now Garcia and Matthysse,” said President of Golden Boy PromotionsOscar De La Hoya. “September 14 will be one of the most memorable nights of boxing we have been treated to in a long time.”

“Garcia vs. Matthysse is a fight fan’s dream matchup,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports®. “It is a main event-quality fight by itself. To add it to what is already the biggest pay-per-view main event in years, makes the September 14 event the best PPV card in recent memory.”

Garcia (26-0, 20 KO’s) is a popular and crowd-pleasing fighter in the prime of his career. In his last start, the 25-year-old boxer-puncher registered one knockdown en route to successfully defending his 140-pound titles with a clear, hard-fought unanimous decision win over former Four-Time World Champion Judah on April 27 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The victory over Judah continued Garcia’s streak of sensational performances against high-profile opposition that began a year earlier when he defeated the legendary Morales the first time via a unanimous decision to capture the WBC world title. The following July, Garcia shocked Khan and the boxing world with a stunning fourth-round technical knockout of the British superstar to add the WBA Super and Ring Magazine World Championships to his collection. On Oct. 20, 2012, Garcia knocked Morales out with a hellacious left hook in the fourth round of their rematch. A 2008 U.S. Olympic Team alternate, Garcia is a physically strong, durable and determined young fighter who is poised and patient in the ring who has fought current or past world champions in his last six fights: Judah, Khan, Morales twice, Kendall Holt and Nate Campbell.

The demand for Garcia vs. Matthysse began immediately after Matthysse brutally knocked out Peterson, dropping him three times, this past May 18 in Atlantic City, N.J.

Matthysse (34-2, 32 KO’s), who is rated No. 1 at 140 lbs. by The RING Magazine, has scored a staggering 94 percent of his wins by knockout, one of the highest KO percentages for a world champion in history. The 30-year-old hails from Trelew, Argentina and has won six fights in a row by knockout. In his last nine fights, he has fought five world champions defeating Peterson (TKO 3), Humberto Soto (TKO 5) and DeMarcus Corley (TKO 8) and losing extremely close, questionable 10-round split decisions against Devon Alexander and Judah in his opponents’ home towns. Many observers think he deserved to win both of those fights. Matthysse, who constantly pressures his opponents and wears them down, was also a solid amateur boxer in his native Argentina.

“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline. The Garcia vs. Matthysse fight is being promoted in association with Swift Promotions and Arano Box Promotions. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

Less than 24 hours after going on sale in June, the event was sold out, but six MGM Resorts properties will host live closed circuit telecasts of “THE ONE.” Properties showcasing the event include ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York. General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and are available for purchase at each individual property’s box office outlets and also are available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com, www.goldenboypromotions.com,www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @FloydMayweather, @CaneloOficial, @MayweatherPromo, @DannySwift, @MayweatherPromo, @GoldenBoyBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #TheOne and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FloydMayweather, www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions, www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOsports.

ST. LOUIS (July 15, 2013) – World Boxing Council (WBC) No. 3-rated Willie “The Great” Nelson (21-1-1, 12 KOs) continued his advanced education in boxing on June 29, learning invaluable lessons in his HBO® debut fight against battle-tested Argentinian veteran Luciano Leonel “El Principito” Cuello (32-3, 16 KOs), whose only two previous losses as a professional were to world champions Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (TKO7) and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (DEC10).

The 26-year-old Nelson, fighting out of Cleveland, strayed too often from his game plan, struggling for parts of three challenging rounds. He regrouped to earn a hard-fought victory by unanimous 10-round decision (97-93, 97-93, 96-94), successfully defending his North American Boxing Federation (NABF) 154-pound title, at MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods® Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

Despite not having his “A” game, like an ace baseball pitcher who wins without his best stuff, Nelson won a tough fight against an underrated opponent, overcoming adversity along the way like the world-class prizefighter he has become.

“I tried to knock him out early to look better than Alvarez had,” Nelson admitted, “and that’s all on me. I took him too lightly and he really came to fight. I tried to outclass him, take him out in the first few rounds; now, I know that I can punch but I can’t knockout everybody. I should have stuck to the game plan and used a double jab and then come back with a right. I was supposed to spin him so I wouldn’t get caught by his left hook, but I didn’t do what I worked on in the gym. I’ll learn from this fight.”

The 6′ 3 ½” Nelson, whose 81″ reach is freakish for a light middleweight, stayed too often in the pocket and essentially gave up his tremendous size advantage in an effort to put Cuello (listed at 5′ 9 ½”) to sleep early, as he did in his previous fight to Michael Medina (KO1). Never-the-less, he still defeated the WBC No. 13-rated challenger, who gave Chavez all that he could handle and more in their controversial 2009 fight, in which Chavez won a questionable 10-round decision (97-93, 96-95, 96-94) at home in Mexico.

“I watched more videotape of Cuello than just his Alvarez and Chavez fights,” said Jack Loew, who trains Nelson in Youngstown, Ohio. “I knew Cuello could fight and we were in for a tough fight. We know that Willie can do better but it was a great learning experience for him. I know it’ll make him an even better fighter. Don’t forget, it wasn’t perfect, but Willie won the fight fair and square on HBO. We didn’t take a step backwards, not by any means, and he’s ready right now to fight any of the top names in the light middleweight division. There’s no doubt in my mind that Willie will be world champion.

“I thought he dominated when he did what he was supposed to do – use a double jab and come back with the right. His second jab landed all night long but he wanted to bang-out his opponent early. When Willie didn’t throw his double jab, throwing only one jab at a time, Cuello blocked it and then snuck inside. Willie has so much talent; he can box and punch. He just can’t go looking for a knockout like he did. He needs to learn how to adjust better during a fight and listen to his corner. This is like fine-tuning a car. Everything is there and all we need to do is put it all together.”

Because most of the top light middleweights are committed to fights during the next few months, rather than wait for a major fight opportunity, Nelson will headline a local show, presented by Rumble Time Promotions and DiBella Entertainment, September 28 close to his adopted second-home of Youngstown at Packard Music Arena (tickets: 314.662.2000) in Warren, Ohio.

“The top guys aren’t available and we’re not waiting for Willie to fight again,” explained Rumble Time Promotions president Steve Smith, who co-promotes Nelson with Lou DiBella. “We’re going to keep him busy so he can continue to improve his skills. We tried to get (WBC #1 rated Sergey) Rabchenko for this fight (June 29) on HBO but they turned it down.

“Willie was a little too overconfident and put too much pressure on himself to knockout Cuello quicker than Alvarez had in six rounds. That’s why Willie came out so fast. He’s young and could have made things a lot easier, if he had just fought his fight. He’s a big puncher whose strong boxing skills enabled him to win a lot of amateur titles.”

Cuello was a relatively unknown, at least in the United States, but the Argentinian proved to be a rugged, albeit awkward opponent who is cut from the same mold as his countrymen, contemporary stars such as Sergio Martinez, Lucas Matthysee and Marcos Maidana.

Nelson was cut for the first time in his pro career, in fact, he suffered lacerations over both eyes (in the 3rd and 10th rounds), but he was fortunate to have one of the world’s premier cut-men working his corner, Danny Milano, who kept the bleeding under control. Nelson displayed the heart and determination of a true champion down the stretch to win convincingly in his first HBO fight.

“American fans didn’t know how good Cuello is because he had never fought on U.S. television before,” Smith added. “His close loss to Chavez was in Mexico to the son of a Mexican legend. Willie solidified his position among the top-ranked light middleweight contenders in the world like (Miguel) Cotto, (Erislandy) Lara, (Alfredo) Angulo, (James) Kirkland, and (Vanes) Matirosyan.”

Go online to www.RumbleTimePromotions.com for more information about Nelson or any of his Rumble Time Promotions stable-mates.

SAN ANTONIO – Monday round 6:00 PM a large crowd awkwardly gathered round a stage awkwardly situated in the plaza that precedes Misión San Antonio de Valero, known today as the Alamo, and bent its collective neck in a variety of unnatural directions to catch glimpses of Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and American Floyd “Money” Mayweather, as they made what had become, with the day’s earlier cancellation of a Phoenix stop, the penultimate destination of a 10-city tour designed to announce “The One” and enrich those gathered onstage – except only One, Alvarez, was actually onstage, while One was, by his much later account, contending with a scheduling cross-up and a delayed flight and a family emergency in Houston.

The temperature was unseasonably cool, and as the media were seated beneath a famously large oak tree left of the stage, the only point of complaint at the open was the extraordinarily tall and robust speaker fewer than six feet from the press seats and given to pitiless eruptions whenever its deejay stopped spinning and welcomed his emcee to the microphone.

“My name is Tattoo Golden Boy Promotions,” the emcee announced, without inflection – too real for a comma – named, anyway, after an act Mayweather has often enjoyed.

Haranguing and Twitter-handling and hyping ensued, beseeching a crowd significantly smaller than announced, and significantly smaller still by the time it crescendoed at 7:53 PM with Mayweather’s arrival, to practice cheering the fighters’ processions along a carpeted ruby walkway. It was a curiously reflexive spectacle: townspeople gathered to be entertained by persons who will charge them to watch boxing on pay-per-view being put through rehearsals for how to act entertained, Monday. Of course, out of pomp’s context, the entire idea of a press conference with fewer than half its media-reserved seats filled, a press conference with a deejay and an emcee, for that matter, was an absurd spectacle nobody doing journalism 25 years ago would have recognized.

Mayweather’s tardy arrival afforded such observations; the hour that passed between Canelo’s terse greeting and Mayweather’s attempt at improvisation stripped the spectacle of its pomp, and therefore context, leaving a mostly bare stage, bored administrative types, a sheepish emcee, a humiliated CEO, a tired but seemingly amused television executive, and two prizefighters of Mexican origin, Alvarez then Oscar De La Hoya, who departed the event right about the time Mayweather’s flight departed Houston. It was De La Hoya, nobly enough, who had the least patience for his former rival’s antics. With no music or deejay onstage but a plethora of live mics, De La Hoya said to one of his employees at 6:39 PM: “He hasn’t even taken off yet?”

With that, a goodish number of those gathered made plans for takeoff. It was De La Hoya’s clearest moment. There is no chance he enjoys being onstage with Mayweather, not after the boorish way Mayweather comported himself on their 2007 press tour, the event that changed “Money’s” moniker and career entirely, and being stuck doing promotional work for Mayweather often leads De La Hoya to offer uncomfortable non sequiturs like: “I have to admit, I do miss the ring. That doesn’t mean I’m coming back. It means Canelo Alvarez is ‘The One’.”

The disjointedness, though, was not really even underway when De La Hoya went out the front entrance, signing autographs and looking both annoyed and apologetic. The disjointedness would come 75 minutes later when Mayweather led a diminished crowd through a few soggy bars of “Hard work! . . . Dedication!” then looked over his left shoulder at the Alamo and asked promoter Richard Schaefer, a Swiss national, to say the place they were gathered, to ensure it was pronounced correctly, before Mayweather rambled through a few lines about his wagering on the Spurs, before he rambled through the same lines again. It is not until one sees Mayweather in person, a 150-pound man with quick eyes and nervous mannerisms, so inept at ad-libbing that he fills time on the microphone telling assistants what great jobs they’re doing, that a person properly appreciates what a transformative power television wields.

Remaining media were invited backstage after a few more “Hard Work!” sing-alongs, and when television was done with its 16 minutes, print journalism got its six, and Mayweather got one serious question about a thing he said on one of Showtime’s infomercials for his May fight with Robert Guerrero – an uncannily insightful moment, when Mayweather talked about his time in jail, saying that while the incarcerated was supposed to be getting rehabilitated, all the incarcerated actually did was get angrier – a question treating the epidemic of young black men today being incarcerated for profit by America’s privatized prison system, and Mayweather’s potentially using his platform to address it. After smiling intermittently through the question, like a chess player watching a witless opponent attempt an unsophisticated trap, the man who sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson once allowed to compare himself to Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X explained he didn’t like to see anything as a “black thing” but rather saw his time in jail as evidence of things happening to a person in life, and that it was just a thing he had to get through.

It was a well-rehearsed, publicist-prepared answer for a gotcha question that was not asked – “Aren’t you setting a poor example?” – and a reminder to any parent who might mistakenly forego Charles Barkley’s 20-year-old advice and teach his children modern athletes are heroes: Barkley was both insightful and correct when he declared “I am not a role model,” and Barkley was much closer to being a role model than today’s best prizefighter.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

PHOENIX – Kudos to Golden Boy Promotions for canceling the Canelo Alvarez-Floyd Mayweather Jr. stop on a multi-city tour last Tuesday because of the wildfire that killed 19 Arizona fire-fighters in Yarnell, just 85 miles northwest of a downtown theater where Canelo and Mayweather were scheduled to appear.

It was the right move. It would have been inappropriate just one day after 19 bodies were transported – van after white van in a mournful procession — to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office, also in downtown Phoenix.

The show could have gone on, of course. A big lunch-time crowd – at least a few thousand – was the expectation in a city and state with a rich boxing history, a traditional market, battered and abandoned during the last few years by the immigration controversy attached to SB 1070. But boxing tours have a circus-like tone. It is theater that includes the ritual eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose poses between unblinking boxers. Playful trash-talk, chants, cheers and waving flags dot the well-rehearsed plot like familiar confetti. There’s no room for grief and, on Tuesday, that’s the only thing Phoenix and Arizona could feel.

Golden Boy understood that and quickly acted in a way that said more than words ever could with a donation to the 100 Club’s Survivor Fund. Still, even some of the words struck the right tone. They came from Mayweather, known best for trash talk. This time, Mayweather got it right.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the people who lost their lives in those fires,” said Mayweather, who about a decade ago trained at Central Boxing a few blocks from the state capitol near downtown Phoenix. “This was a terrible tragedy and everyone needs to support them. Never take anything for granted.”

On a personal note, I recall cards that included moments — unforgettable as they are now poignant — that link Arizona boxing to its firefighters. In the final photo of the 19 fallen walking up a hill toward their final fight, I think of kids in Prescott, home for the 19.

Jake Magallanez, a longtime school administrator in Prescott and current president of Arizona’s amateur association, has three sons, Gabe, Adrien and Julien, who were successful boxers in the early 1990s. They fought fires during the day and as amateurs at night. On a Prescott card in early summer, they arrived at a tiny arena still dressed in fire-fighting gear and their faces covered by ash, soot and cinder.

They would change into trunks, replace the helmet with head-gear, fire-retardant gloves with Everlast and walk toward another fight. For me, their black-streaked faces have always served as a collective portrayal of Arizona boxing. It’s one face, often seen on the bigger stage in Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal and retired featherweight champion Louie Espinoza. The look was tough and defiant, somewhat stoic and always ready to fight anyone, anywhere. And anything.

It’s the stubborn part of that look, perhaps, that says the dormant market can be a modern symbol of that mythic bird for which Phoenix was named. It can come back. That potential is a reason Phoenix was included on the Canelo-Mayweather tour. Phoenix and Arizona continue to be a viable market, said Stephen Espinoza, vice president and general manager of sports for Showtime, which will stage the pay-per-view bout on Sept. 14 at Las Vegas MGM Grand.

It was through Espinoza’s urging that Phoenix be included. Espinoza also said Tuesday night during the tour’s finale in Los Angeles that there’s a chance an event will be re-scheduled for Phoenix sometime between now and Sept. 14. Here’s why: Much of the Canelo-Mayweather promotion has been rooted in what happened in 2007 when Mayweather’s decision over Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya. Mayweather-De La Hoya set the pay-per-view record, between 2.4 and 2.5 million sales for a Home Box Office bout. The Phoenix market played a major role. In pay-per-view sales for Mayweather-De La Hoya, Phoenix ranks sixth.

Here’s a list of the top 15 markets, acquired from sources who worked in promoting and televising the bout:

1. – New York

2. – Los Angeles

3. – San Francisco

4. – Philadelphia

5. – Chicago

6. – Phoenix

7. – Boston

8. – Houston

9. – San Diego

10. – Las Vegas

11. – Washington, D.C.

12. – Miami

13. – San Antonio

14. – Atlanta

15. — Dallas

It’s a pound-for-pound list of America’s fight towns. Phoenix wasn’t on the tour. Yet in perhaps an ironic twist, the city’s place on the list gained attention and a renewed appreciation out of a cancellation. Golden Boy did it out of respect for those who died and for a tradition still alive in a state and city known for fighters of every kind.

LOS ANGELES (July 3, 2013) – “THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO” press tour came to a spectacular conclusion Tuesday night before 10,000 energetic and enthusiastic fans at Nokia Plaza at L.A. LIVE.

Tempers didn’t exactly flare between Floyd Mayweather, Canelo Alvarez and their camps during the lively festivities that included loud music, a mariachi band and colorful streamers shot into the air, but, for the first time during the enormously successful nine-day, 10-city tour, the respective teams were less than completely complimentary of each other on stage.

Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya, who was seated next to Canelo at the dais, told the pro-Canelo crowd that he was “convinced Canelo will win.” Fans, who had chanted “Ca-nel-o” throughout, often drowning out the speakers, erupted in cheers. Moments earlier, De La Hoya said he “believed this event will break all the (pay-per-view) records” and that “this will be the best fight in the history of the sport.”

When it was his turn to speak, Canelo reiterated what he had said throughout the tour, that he fully appreciated the fans’ support, that this was “his time and we’re going to win this together.”

Mayweather, who took a verbal shot at De La Hoya at the podium while comparing his (Mayweather’s) resume to Canelo’s, told reporters afterward that “this was the only time on the press tour that there was trash talk.”

“They never said a word in the first nine cities,’’ Mayweather said. “They were totally quiet. Now, all of a sudden we’re in L.A. and they’re talking big like, Canelo is the king. Well, as you saw, if you shoot shots at me, I’ll shoot shots back. How you react to me is how I’ll react to you. You show me respect, I show you respect.

“Every time they give a fighter a huge buildup, I bring them down. It’s so crazy. Canelo is a great, young, strong champion, but he’s never fought on pay-per-view unless he’s been on one of my undercards. I’ve been here before, done it all for 17 years. Does he belong in the ring with me? We’ll just have to see, but I haven’t seen it yet.

“I’m young, strong and rich. He may be number one in his division, but I’m number one in boxing. You’ll see on September 14.”

Mayweather was joined on stage by his mother and three of his young children. “Tonight was great,” he said. “The atmosphere here in Los Angeles was amazing, but this was also a special night for me because it was the first time my mother and children were up here with me.

“My mother, she’s a brilliant person. Today, I was going to write her a one million dollar check. Then, I got to thinking, what she’s given to me, my skills, my life, well I realized what she’s done for me is priceless. A one million dollar check would be a start, but could not in any way repay her.”

Mayweather said he had been playing a lot of basketball on the tour and that he is in great physical condition, but that he’s “in basketball shape, not boxing shape. That comes soon. It’s time to get to work.”

Floyd also said that his company, Mayweather Promotions, would make a donation to the families of the firefighters who were killed by the devastating wildfires near Phoenix earlier this week.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the people who lost their lives in those fires,” he said. “This was a terribly tragedy and everyone needs to support them. Never take anything for granted.”

Canelo was thrilled to be part of the unprecedented press tour. “This is my job and I enjoyed every moment of it,” he said. “Every city was different, but the atmosphere was always the same. I was so impressed with all the fans in all the cities, especially the ones in Chicago, Mexico City, San Antonio and tonight in Los Angeles. I appreciate all the fans everywhere.”

In Los Angeles, not unlike most of the other cities on the tour, Canelo appeared to be the crowd favorite.

“Canelo-Mania,” as Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer put it, “had hit the United States. I’ve seen it across the nation, in Mexico and in the U.S.,” said Schaefer, who emceed Tuesday’s proceedings. “We had 100,000 fans come out for the press conferences. Based on what we know and the monies generated already, I’m convinced this fight on September 14 is The ONE to break the pay-per-view record (2.5 million buys, set by Mayweather-De La Hoya in 2007).”

“Was I more popular on the tour?” Canelo replied in response to a question during a roundtable session with the media before the outdoor press conference. “It’s not for me to say. It’s up to you to decide.”

As for who has more to lose on Sept. 14, Canelo said, “I don’t know who does, but I’m not going to lose. This is the fight the fans wanted to see. I’ll be ready whether and I have to box and move, or stand and slug. Mayweather is a very difficult fighter, one of the best, and he has a very difficult style.

“We plan to study a lot of tape, especially his first fight with Jose Luis Castillo, who gave him the most problems. I know I haven’t reached my peak yet and that I still have a lot to learn, but I wish it was September 14 already. It’s an honor for me to be fighting on such an important weekend like Mexican Independence Day.”

Canelo didn’t think his weight fluctuated much during the sometimes exhausting tour. “I was able to run on a treadmill at the hotel every couple days,” he said. “I think my weight today is about what it was when we started.”

The freckle-faced, red-haired Canelo, who turns 23 on July 18, was scheduled to fly to Guadalajara Wednesday morning. He will spend a few days at home with his family before returning to Los Angeles early next week where he will finalize preparations for training camp which will take place in the mountains near Big Bear, Calif.

The top priority on his immediate agenda, however, Canelo says is “sleep. That’s the first thing I’ll do.” he said.

“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

Less than 24 hours after going on sale on June 25, the event was sold out, but six MGM Resorts properties will host live closed circuit telecasts of “THE ONE.” Properties showcasing the event include ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York. General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and are available for purchase at each individual property’s box office outlets and also are available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

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For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com, www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @FloydMayweather, @CaneloOficial, @MayweatherPromo, @GoldenBoyBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #TheOne and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FloydMayweather, www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions, www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOsports.

LOS ANGELES, July 3 – This Fourth of July, the biggest fireworks show will be on your television set, when FOX Deportes presents a special marathon of Golden Boy Classics featuring the combatants in the biggest fight of 2013…Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez who square off in “THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO” on Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME PPV®.

At 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT, FOX Deportes will rebroadcast the final episode of ALL ACCESS: Mayweather vs. Guerrero and the action will continue throughout the evening with five hard-hitting matchups featuring Mayweather and Canelo.

Then at 5:30 p.m. ET it’s a trip back to May of 2010, when Alvarez passed his first major test in stopping longtime contender Jose Miguel Cotto to finish their heated nine-round fight.

Next up at 6:30 p.m. ET, fans will watch as Mayweather defeated top pound-for-pound champion Juan Manuel Marquez in their September 2009 showdown.

Following that at 7:30 p.m. ET, it’s a super welterweight world championship bout from June of 2011 when Alvarez returned home to fight in his native Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and thrilled his fans with a 12th round finish of England’s Ryan Rhodes.

Next up will be a doubleheader of classics never before aired on the series, with Mayweather’s defeat of Oscar De La Hoya in their May 2007 battle airing at 8:30 p.m. ET and Alvarez’s May 2012 clash against future Hall of Famer Sugar Shane Mosley showing at 9:30 p.m. ET.

MEXICO CITY (June 30, 2013) – “THE ONE: Mayweather vs. Canelo” press tour continued on a beautiful summer Sunday in Mexico’s capital city where local police estimated that 32,000 excitable fans turned out at Monumento de los Niños Heroes to greet pound-for-pound boxing king Floyd Mayweather and national hero Canelo Alvarez.

Mexican television network Televisa covered the proceedings, which, like the previous six stops on this unprecedented press tour, was part press conference and part fan rally.

A complete replay of Televisa’s presentation is available for viewing at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/35179179

Quotes from Mayweather and Canelo on Sunday in Mexico City:

Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Eight-Time and Five Division World Champion

“It’s great to be in Mexico. The turnout here and all throughout this tour has been amazing. Canelo has a lot of fans here in Mexico. We expected that, but I don’t fight for one country. I fight for the whole world.

“I have faced a lot of great champions in my career and I can honestly say that my toughest opponents have been Mexican.

“One thing I know is that Mexicans know boxing.

“I got into this sport to be the best and I’m pretty sure Canelo got into the sport to be the best, but the difference is that I was born to win and I will die to win.

I don’t know how this fight is going to play out. That’s what makes this match-up so interesting. We’ll all find out on September 14.

“I’m the pound-for-pound best. I’m ‘The One,’ and on September 14, you’ll see.

“I commend Canelo. He’s a young, strong champion. I congratulate his team, but when you face Floyd Mayweather you face the best.

“Right now I just can’t be beat. Maybe in 20 years he’ll be the king, but not right now. September 14 is just another day for me.”

Canelo Alvarez, Super Welterweight World Champion

“I want to thank everyone for coming out here…all of you. I’ve always said that we had to come to Mexico (on this tour). There’s no other place like Mexico. I’m so happy.

“There are a lot of people who don’t think I’m going to win, but on September 14, you’ll see that I will win.

“I’ve always wanted to be the best in the sport and I’m on my way. I couldn’t let this opportunity go by and I will take advantage of it on September 14.

“I’m always training. I never stop. To win we have to prepare well and not ignore the little things.

“I feel the size of this event. I feel the emotion, but I am calm and on September 14, I’ll be okay.

“I began fighting when I was 15 years old and at that time I wasn’t ready to fight him. Now I’m ready. I always go in with a winning mentality. I’ll prepare to win.”

# # #

“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

Less than 24 hours after going on sale on June 25, the event was sold out, but six MGM Resorts properties will host live closed circuit telecasts of “THE ONE.” Properties showcasing the event include ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York. General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and are available for purchase at each individual property’s box office outlets and also are available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets for closed circuit viewing at ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage and Monte Carlo are now on sale. Tickets for the closed circuit telecast at New York-New York will go on sale on Monday, July 1 at 3:00 p.m. ET/Noon PT.

For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com, www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @FloydMayweather, @CaneloOficial, @MayweatherPromo, @GoldenBoyBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #TheOne and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FloydMayweather, www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions, www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOsports.

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS (July 1, 2013) – Fans remained the biggest winners as “THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO” press tour continued Monday with two stops in Texas.

In Houston, a couple hundred fans began lining up at 3:00 a.m. for a press conference that started at 1:00 p.m. By the time the press conference officially commenced at Union Station At Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, an overflow crowd of over 1,000 fans had filled the stadium’s grand lobby to beyond capacity.

The nine-day, 10-city tour continued Monday night at The Alamo in San Antonio. The press conference didn’t start until 6:00 p.m., but fans were in line by 7:00 a.m. Due to a flight delay, Mayweather was an hour and forty-five minutes late and by the time he arrived, Canelo had come and gone.

However, Mayweather provided a little glimpse into his future, saying he may fight more than the five more times after which he has previously said he would retire.

“After my five more fights, guess what? I think after 49-0 we may stay in this sport a little longer,” he said. “This September 14, it’s just another walk in the park.”

As he has throughout the tour, Mayweather thanked the fans. “There is no city like San Antonio,” he told the approximately 5,000 in attendance. “You fans have been brilliant over the years. Without San Antonio, Floyd Mayweather wouldn’t be where he’s at today. If you don’t know, Mayweather loves Mexico. Mexican and Latino fans, you know boxing.

“I’m going to sign a lot of autographs and take a lot of pictures because I’m late. That’s the least I can do for you guys.”

Canelo was his usual classy self at the podium, but he took a couple jabs at Mayweather for being tardy.

“Thank you everybody for being here. It’s a great honor for me to be here for a second time. Last time I was treated like I was at home and that’s what I feel like again – like I’m at home.”

“I know many of you have been here since seven in the morning. At six o’clock the press conference was supposed to start, and that’s why I’m here at six o’clock – because I respect you, because you guys respect boxing. There are Mayweather fans here who also have been here since very early. I’m here for them too.”

“He (Mayweather) thinks all the boxers have to respect him and he intimidates everybody, but he doesn’t intimidate me. I look forward to the fight.’’

“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

Less than 24 hours after going on sale on June 25, the event was sold out, but six MGM Resorts properties will host live closed circuit telecasts of “THE ONE.” Properties showcasing the event include ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York. General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and are available for purchase at each individual property’s box office outlets and also are available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

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For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com, www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @FloydMayweather, @CaneloOficial, @MayweatherPromo, @GoldenBoyBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #TheOne and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FloydMayweather, www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions, www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOsports.

Video streaming by Ustream

This Tuesday Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez hit Phoenix as part of their 11-city tour. The festivities will take place at the Herberger Theater and begin promptlt at 11am pt

Fans are encouraged to arrive early as entry into each event is available on a first come, first served basis!

Tuesday, July 2

Phoenix, AZ

Location: Herberger Theater

222 East Monroe Street

Phoenix, AZ 85004

Fan Arrival Time: 10:00 a.m. PT

Press Conference Begins: 11:00 a.m. PT

LAS VEGAS (June 28) – Tickets for closed circuit telecasts of “THE ONE: Mayweather vs. Canelo,” the September 14 mega-fight betweenFloyd “Money” Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez which will be produced and distributed by SHOWTIME PPV® from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, at ARIA, Mandalay Bay, Mirage and Monte Carlo go on sale today at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. Tickets for the closed circuit telecast at New York-New York will go on sale on Monday, July 1 at 3:00 p.m. ET/Noon PT

General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and will be available at each individual property’s box office outlets and also will be available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets for closed circuit viewing also are available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Closed circuit tickets for the MGM Grand telecast are on sale now.

“The next best thing to being inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena on fight night is to watch the fight with other boxing fans on closed circuit in Las Vegas,” said Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe. “We urge boxing fans from across the country and around the world to get their tickets quickly as we anticipate that these closed circuit telecasts will sell out just like the fight itself did.”

“With every ticket at the MGM Grand Garden Arena sold out for ‘THE ONE,’ the next best way for those in Las Vegas or wishing to travel there for the big-fight experience is seeing it via closed circuit,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “Fans can arrive early in the week, go to all the pre-fight events that are open to the public and then watch the fight on Saturday night. It’s a great way to experience a mega-event like this.”

“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com, www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @FloydMayweather, @CaneloOficial, @MayweatherPromo, @GoldenBoyBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #TheOne or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FloydMayweather, www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions, www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOboxing.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the September 14th mega fight between Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez will shatter the all-time records for gate receipts for a prize fight.

Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com the fight will generate a minimum of $18,647,000 in ticket sales and “it could go up to a little shy of $19 million depending on the number of comps that are given out. It’s going to be the record. The MGM is calculating and has to do the ticket settlement, but it will definitely be the record.”

“Everything is gigantic with this fight,” Schaefer said from Atlanta, where he was Thursday for stop No. 5 on an 11-city media tour to promote the fight. “Two months out and you can say within 2 percent what the gate is. The more comps, the less the gross will be but the casino gets a certain number of comps, the fighters get a certain number of comps, Showtime and Showtime Pay-Per-View get some, the sponsors get some. I have to go through the list. The gate number will go up from where we are at now and it’s already the record. I don’t want to have too many comps.”

Said Mayweather: “This sellout doesn’t surprise me because this is what happens when the best fights the best. I want to thank all the fans for their support. They’re going to see a hell of a show on Sept. 14.”

Schaefer said the fight also has set the record for a guarantee on national closed circuit revenue, which is derived from people who pay to watch the fight at bars and restaurants. He said De La Hoya-Mayweather generated a record $3 million guarantee and that the Mayweather-Alvarez closed-circuit rights went for $4 million.

Although Schaefer declined to disclose the exact figure, he said the Mexican television rights for Mayweather-Alvarez that went to Televisa brought “four times as much as they did for De La Hoya-Mayweather. That just shows you how big Canelo is in Mexico.”

“These lofty records, you have to wonder if they will ever be broken. I am always hopeful because records are here to be broken,” said Schaefer, who will be in Miami for stop No. 6 on the media tour. “The gate record has fallen. The closed-circuit record has fallen for the guarantee. I’m really proud of what we have accomplished as a company to set the record and then break the record. I’m going to try to break it again. That’s what motivates me. It shows how healthy the sport is.”

“I’m not going to say the pay-per-view record is going to fall but the more I see the turnout at these tour stops and the passion I have seen day after day from the fans, the more I think we have a shot,” he said.

LOS ANGELES, June 26, 2013 – As soon as the September 14 showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez was announced, it became the biggest fight of 2013 and the hottest ticket in town. How hot? Less than 24 hours after going on sale on Tuesday, every ticket to the highly anticipated fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena was sold, confirming that when it comes to “THE ONE,” which will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV, the entire world will be watching.

In response to the rapid live gate sellout, Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions, Canelo Promotions and MGM Resorts International are pleased to announce that six MGM Resorts properties will host live closed circuit telecasts of “THE ONE.” Properties showcasing the event include ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York.

General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and will be available for purchase at each individual property’s box office outlets and also will be available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets also will be available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets for closed circuit viewing at MGM Grand go on sale Friday, June 28 at 3:00 p.m. ET/Noon PT. Information regarding availability of closed circuit tickets at the five other properties will be announced in the near future.

“This sell out doesn’t surprise me because this is what happens when the best fights the best,” said Mayweather. “I want to thank all the fans for their support. They’re going to see a hell of a show on September 14, whether it’s at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, on closed circuit in Las Vegas or on SHOWTIME Pay-Per-View.”

“Thank you to everyone who bought tickets to this event,” said Alvarez. “I know I will have plenty of support in the MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 14. This is the biggest night of my career, I will be at my best for it and I will win.”

“We’re truly excited that the fans have spoken,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. “This is a tremendous fight and the quick sellout is another indication that this is the fight fans want to see. Both fighters thank the fans for their tremendous support.”

“The demand for tickets, even before they went on sale, was unprecedented,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “This is the fight the world wanted, we gave it to the fans, and they responded. September 14 will be the biggest night boxing has seen in years. We urge fans to get their closed circuit tickets before they sell out as well!”

“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com, www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @FloydMayweather, @CaneloOficial, @MayweatherPromo, @GoldenBoyBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #TheOne or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FloydMayweather, www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions, www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOsports.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (June 26, 2013) – Floyd “Money” Mayweather went home Wednesday and an estimated 2,000 enthusiastic fans, friends and family members were there to see the legendary fighter and his upcoming opponent, Canelo Alvarez, at Houseman Field in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The third stop of an unprecedented 11-city, two-country, nine-day media blitz to promote Mayweather’s eagerly anticipated Saturday, Sept. 14 showdown with Alvarez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena which will be produced and distributed by SHOWTIME PPV® had the look and feel of a state fair or carnival. There was a marching band, cotton candy, snow cones, and bouncy houses to play in.

Those in attendance included 300 children who were bussed in from the Grand Rapids Public School System summer program. Mayweather is an alumni of the Grand Rapids school system.

Immediately following the event, Mayweather, Canelo and their teams flew to Chicago where they will host the second of today’s two events at The Chicago Theatre (5:00 p.m. CT). The media tour continues tomorrow, Thursday, June 27, at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta.

Mayweather showed his appreciation, “To the city of Grand Rapids, you believed in me when no one else would. I want to thank all my fans and Canelo’s fans, but one thing we know, fans can’t fight for you.’’
“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 25, 2013) – A capacity crowd of well-over 1,000 people filled Washington, D.C.’s historic Howard Theatre on Tuesday for the second stop of the unprecedented 11-city, two-country media tour for “THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO.”

Eight-Time, Five-Division World Champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Super Welterweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez are in the midst of their nine-day tour to discuss their Saturday, September 14 mega-fight from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME PPV®.

Mayweather showed his appreciation for his strong following in D.C., signing autographs for over two hours and posing for pictures with fans.

Tickets priced at $2,000, $1,500, $1,000, $600 and $350, not including applicable service charges and taxes, with a total ticket limit of 12 per person (a limit of 10 per person at the $2,000, $1,500, $1,000 and $600 price levels and a limit of two [2] per person at the $350 price level), are on sale now. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

The media tour continues tomorrow, Wednesday, June 26, with stops in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Chicago.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER:
“D.C. is a fight town. It’s been so kind to me in my career. The fans have supported me here since I turned pro and today’s turnout was nothing different.

“Canelo is a young, strong champ. It’s obvious he’s done something right to get to this level. He’s a guy I know I can’t overlook. When guys face Floyd Mayweather it’s a total different level. I’m pretty sure he’ll be in tip-top condition. I need to go out there and be at my best and stick to the game plan.

“To be the best you have to fight the best and Canelo is one of the best fighters out there at this particular time. That’s why this fight is called ‘THE ONE.’”

CANELO ALVAREZ:
“Everything is different…big name, clever fighter. It’s the best fighter, the best venue, the best network. Austin Trout was a good fighter, but this is different. You can see with everyone here with the fans and the media. It’s not just a fight, but a big event.

“This was the next step to get Mayweather. I’m the type of fighter that if you give me someone who is better than me, it’s motivating. It gets the real Canelo. Trout was OK. He was a good fighter, but he didn’t impose his will on me. He didn’t bring out the best Canelo. Mayweather is the guy.”

“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

NEW YORK (June 24, 2013) – “THE ONE” we’ve been waiting for, Floyd “Money” Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez, was formally announced at a press conference in front of thousands of flag-waving, enthusiastic fans on a hot, summer Monday in Times Square in New York City. The streets were lined with camera-clicking fans for hours, while others watched the first stop of an 11-city, two-country, nine-day media tour that continues Tuesday in Washington, D.C. from their office windows high above “The Crossroads of the World.”

The fighters were introduced individually, posed for the fans and news cameras, produced an intense face-off and spoke at the podium.

“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO” is a compelling collision of two unbeaten, popular prizefighters with the WBC, WBA Super, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships all on the line. Mayweather (44-0, 26 KO’s) is the sport’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter and an Eight-Time and Five-Division World Champion. Mexican superstar and Super Welterweight World Champion Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) is the sport’s No. 1 rising star. The winner of the scheduled 12-round bout on Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME PPV®, will definitely be “THE ONE’’ in boxing.

The event is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotion and Canelo Promotions, sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline and will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. It can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

Tickets priced at $2,000, $1,500, $1,000, $600 and $350, not including applicable service charges and taxes, with a total ticket limit of 12 per person (a limit of 10 per person at the $2,000, $1,500, $1,000 and $600 price levels and a limit of two [2] per person at the $350 price level), go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday, June 25 at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

What Mayweather and Canelo as well as executives Leonard Ellerbe, Richard Schaefer, Oscar De La Hoya, Stephen Espinoza and Canelo’s trainer, Chepo Reynoso, said Monday:

Floyd Mayweather, Eight-Time And Five-Division World Champion

“Canelo, I appreciate you for taking this fight. Let’s give the fans what they want to see on September 14.

“Mexico has produced some legendary champions. I take my hat off to them. I respect the country of Mexico, but something I’ve always enjoyed about the sport of boxing is that my fans can’t fight for me and his fans can’t fight for him.

“I’m truly thankful to the fans, without the fans I wouldn’t be where I am.

“Golden Boy Promotions, we love working hand-in-hand with you guys. Mayweather Promotions, our company is still building. We’ve got young champions on the rise. I have to thank SHOWTIME; we’re going to do some record-breaking things. I have to thank CBS. To all the executives, I want to thank you all for believing in me and my skills.”

“I want to thank Canelo’s fans, you guys have stood behind him. He’s a true champion, a young, strong champion and he’s earned his right to be up here with me. He’s done something right to get to this level.

“I can’t wait to go out there and perform. I’m about to go to camp. Physically I’m always ready, but I’m looking for an exciting fight on September 14.

“It has truly been an amazing ride. I’m blessed to be in the sport of boxing and be at the top for 17 years.

“There’s no city like New York City. As a matter of fact, they should put a ring right here in Times Square and let us do it today.

“On September 14, all we want to do is give the fans excitement. That’s what it’s all about. I just want to give the fans a hell of a fight.

“Canelo is a young strong champion. He’s obviously done something right to be at this level. He’s a guy that I can’t overlook. I’ve got to go out there and fight the best fight.

“When guys face me, it’s a totally different level. I’m sure he’s going to be in tip top condition and give the fans a great show.

“Come September 14, it’s the best versus the best. ‘THE ONE.’ He’s a guy I know I can’t overlook, but I’ve been here before. I have a lot of experience. One thing I don’t do is play into the crowd. I understand that this is my job. I know what it takes in a fight of this magnitude and I’m going to continue to dedicate myself to my craft and be the best that I can be. I dedicated my whole life to be at the pinnacle and to face the best.

“The earth is my turf. You can put me in any ring and I’ll always come out victorious. The car won’t stop now. Let’s keep the car rolling. It’s gong to be a hell of a fight on September 14.”

Canelo Alvarez, Super Welterweight World Champion

“Good afternoon, New York. Thank you all for being here and for your support. With this fight, everybody’s going to win. In boxing everybody has their time, and this is my time. Everybody knows that Floyd’s the best without question, but it’s my time. We’re going to win.

“I’m younger and bigger, which are very important keys, but you must remember that Floyd is a very intelligent fighter, but I’m going to have the right game plan.

“Obviously, this is my biggest fight, but I’ve visualized it and I’ve prepared my mind for it for a while.

“I appreciate all the fans for all of their incredible support. I always have. I’m very gratified to be here today, to see this turnout and to have so many fans supporting for me. I’ll be ready on September 14 and give them all what they want to see.’’

Leonard Ellerbe, CEO, Mayweather Promotions

“We would like to thank each and every one of you for coming out today to support this tremendous event that we’re having on September 14. We have a young, great fighter in Canelo Alvarez who thinks that he’s ‘THE ONE’ going up against the best fighter in the world and who’s been the best fighter in the world for a number of years. He is ‘THE ONE.’

“This fight we feel will break records all over the world. The reason Floyd wanted to take this fight is because of you, the fans, and come September 14 that’s what you will get, a great, great fight.”

Richard Schaefer, CEO, Golden Boy Promotions

“Wow, New York, you did it again…huge, huge crowd here in Times Square! Since 2007, I’ve had the pleasure to work with Floyd and his team. Here in New York, we were at RockefellerPlaza, we were at the EmpireStateBuilding and now here at Times Square, but wouldn’t you agree, Floyd, that this is the best one yet?

“This is the one fight everybody wanted. The one fight everybody waited for. Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather is the one…he is highest-paid one, he’s the best one, he’s the pound for pound one, he’s the one in a generation and maybe the one in a lifetime, but will he be ‘THE ONE’ at the end of September 14 or will we have the next one, the new one, Canelo Alvarez?

“Canelo is the Mexican James Dean. He has a cult-like following. He’s the one Mexico has been waiting for. He’s the one who will give Mayweather the biggest test of his career. He’s the younger one, he’s the bigger one, he is the stronger one…and he is the better looking one. Sorry Floyd, just kidding.

“The one thing I know is that September 14 the world will be watching who will be ‘THE ONE.’ Make sure if you can’t be live at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas – tickets will go on sale tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster or at MGM – you watch it live on SHOWTIME Pay-Per-View.

“I want to quickly thank our sponsors, most of all Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline for putting their efforts behind this great fight.

“This is without doubt the single biggest fight we have promoted. This is a record-breaker and if you have watched boxing before, I know you’ll watch this fight and if you haven’t make sure you don’t miss it September 14. The fight will be shown in movie theaters across the nation as well on over 400 screens which is something that is exclusive to Mayweather fights.”

Oscar De La Hoya, President, Golden Boy Promotions

“New York, are you ready? On September 14 we will have not a good fight, but a great fight. Floyd Mayweather, the pound-for-pound champion of the world against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez who is Mexico’s biggest sports figure and Mexico’s biggest icon.”

Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports

“At SHOWTIME our goal is very simple: we want to bring you the most exciting, the most action-packed fights with boxing’s biggest stars. That’s exactly what SHOWTIME has become known for. In just the last few weeks, SHOWTIME has brought you Alfredo Angulo, Josesito Lopez, Marcos Maidana, Danny Garcia, Peter Quillin, Adrien Broner and Amir Khan. Now, SHOWTIME Pay-Per-View is bringing you the two biggest stars in the sport, Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez.

“SHOWTIME Pay-Per-View is proud to be bringing you, ‘THE ONE: Mayweather vs. Canelo,’ the one fight you’ve all been waiting for. In every sport, there are certain, rare occasions when you have the best against the best. The Super Bowl, The Final Four, College Football’s National Championship…September 14 will be one of those occasions with the two biggest stars in the sport and the two biggest fan bases. We have America’s number one fighter versus Mexico’s number one fighter. We have the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the sport versus the number one new star in the sport.

“This is a must-see event and as usual SHOWTIME and SHOWTIME Pay-Per-View will be there every step of the way. From today’s press conference that is being streamed on SHOWTIME’s website to all the other remaining stops on the tour, make sure you check out SHOWTIME’s website for daily updates. As usual, ALL ACCESS will take you behind the scenes and we will be announcing the schedule for ALL ACCESS very shortly. We will see you all on September 14.”

Jose “Chepo” Reynoso, Manager of Canelo

“I just want to say we are ready for this fight. Canelo is going to train like he always does. Viva Mexico!”

For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com, www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @FloydMayweather, @CaneloOficial, @MayweatherPromo, @GoldenBoyBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #TheOne or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FloydMayweather, www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions, www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOsports.

LAS VEGAS (June 24, 2013) – The most compelling and anticipated fight in boxing is officially set as the sport’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, undefeated Eight-Time, Five-Division World Champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather will face undefeated Mexican star and Super Welterweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez in “THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO” on Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME PPV®.

The marquee matchup was initially announced by Mayweather via his Twitter account on May 29 setting the sports world abuzz. The bout will be a Super Welterweight World Championship contested for the WBC, WBA Super, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships on Mexican Independence Day weekend, one of the two biggest weekends on the boxing calendar. The fight will be promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions.

The event is sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline and will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

Tickets priced at $2,000, $1,500, $1,000, $600 and $350, not including applicable service charges and taxes, with a total ticket limit of 12 per person (a limit of 10 per person at the $2,000, $1,500, $1,000 and $600 price levels and a limit of two [2] per person at the $350 price level), go on sale Tuesday, June 25 at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

Mayweather, who usually campaigns at 147 pounds, chose the younger and bigger Canelo as his opponent for the second bout of his new contract with Showtime Networks Inc. and its parent company, CBS Corporation.

“I picked Canelo because he deserves the chance and is the best opponent possible for me at this time,” said Mayweather, who is coming off of a near shutout win on May 4 over Six-Time and Four-Division World Champion Robert Guerrero. “When I signed my new deal with Showtime and CBS, I said I was going to stay active and fight the best fighters and I am keeping my word. I looked at several different fighters and decided to pick Canelo because he can give me a great fight and one the fans are going to appreciate. Sure it’s a risk to fight a guy that is younger and bigger than me, but I love taking risks. Be ready because I’m in fantastic shape and I’m going to train even harder for this fight than I did for my last one. He might be a big, young, strong and talented champion, but my experience and work ethic make me believe that I’m that much better and no one in boxing can beat me right now.”

Canelo is coming off of a unanimous decision win over then WBA World Champion Austin Trout in front of a sold-out crowd of nearly 40,000 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on April 20. The young champion has been soliciting to fight Mayweather for some time and is excited to challenge boxing’s best fighter in what could be a career-defining fight for the Mexican superstar.

“I’m ready for the big challenges and now I have to prove it against Floyd Mayweather on September 14,” said Canelo. “I said that I wanted to fight the best and here I am in front of the best pound-for-pound fighter, who I respect for his achievements, but on September 14, I will write a new page in boxing history because I’m going to be victorious. This fight is for all of my fans, my family and of course for Mexico because we’re fighting on the weekend of Mexico’s Independence. I’ve waited so long for this and my only option is to WIN!”

“It’s a done deal and I commend Floyd for selecting Canelo Alvarez as his next challenge,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO Mayweather Promotions. “Floyd is a great champion who has earned the right to control the destiny of his career. To select a young, strong and bigger opponent in Canelo, who has proven he is at the championship level with his success to date, is just another indication of Floyd’s love for the sport and the fans that embrace him every time he steps in the ring. It’s his legacy on the line September 14 and I have no doubt that he will be victorious again.”

“This is THE ONE. The one fight everyone wants to see as Mayweather is the best ONE ever and no ONE has ever been able to find a way to beat him,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “Will he stay undefeated or will Canelo be the first ONE to beat him? My hat goes off to Floyd for accepting the challenge of a young, strong and undefeated fighter like Canelo and my hat goes off to Canelo for agreeing to fight the best fighter in the world. These are modern day gladiators who know how to entertain and on September 14, the world will stop and watch to see who will be THE ONE! Mayweather vs. Canelo is without doubt ONE of the biggest boxing events of all-time.”

“The response to the announcement of this event, from all corners of sports and entertainment, has been overwhelming,” said Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager, SHOWTIME Sports. “It’s a natural response when the two most skilled and most popular athletes in a sport face off against each other. I commend both Floyd and Canelo for making the best fight possible. Neither man ever waivered in their desire to give the fans what they’ve been clamoring for.”

“We look forward to hosting one of the biggest boxing events in recent years over Mexican Independence Day weekend,” said Richard Sturm, president of sports and entertainment for MGM Resorts International. “These two undefeated athletes will put on a spectacular show, guaranteeing boxing fans a thrilling, action-packed night from the MGM Grand Garden Arena.”

Undefeated Floyd “Money” Mayweather, (44-0, 26 KO’s), an eight-time world champion in five weight divisions, remains boxing’s biggest attraction, wowing crowds and generating remarkable pay-per-view numbers every time he steps into the ring. During Mayweather’s already extraordinary career, he has amassed wins over world champions including Genaro Hernandez, Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley, Victor Ortiz, Miguel Cotto and most recently Robert Guerrero, marking the 44th win of his storied career. Over the course of his participation in pay-per-view events Mayweather has generated more than 10.6 million buys and nearly $650 million in pay-per-view revenue. He averages more than one million pay-per-view buys per event, the highest pay-per-view buy average of any boxer in history. Mayweather, the world’s highest paid athlete in any sport (Sports Illustrated, 2013), co-headlined the single biggest pay-per-view boxing event in history when he fought Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. In addition, Mayweather has appeared in the sport’s four biggest non-heavyweight pay-per-view events.

At only 22 years of age, the pride of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Canelo Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) has emerged as a Mexican icon, standing side-by-side with his country’s greatest sporting legends. His fights on Mexican television network Televisa routinely garner record ratings. In Sept. 2012, Canelo set a new ratings record for boxing on SHOWTIME in his first bout on the network. A fighting phenom, Canelo has fought professionally since 2005 when he was only 15 years old. The powerful puncher tore through all comers on the local circuit in Mexico before winning the NABF welterweight title in 2009. He then began his attack on the international boxing scene. In 2010, Canelo had a breakout year with victories over Jose Miguel Cotto, Luciano Cuello and former World Champions Carlos Baldomir and Lovemore N’dou. By 2011, he earned his first world championship by defeating Matthew Hatton for the WBC Super Welterweight World Championship. Canelo has since defended his title successfully six times defeating Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gomez, Kermit Cintron, Sugar Shane Mosley, Josesito Lopez and, most recently, with a spirited unanimous decision win over Austin Trout, setting up his fight against Mayweather.

The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and premier sporting and special events. The Arena offers comfortable seating for as many as 16,800 with excellent sightlines and state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. Prominent events to date have included world championship fights between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson as well as Oscar de la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez; and concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, George Strait, Janet Jackson, Phil Collins, Billy Joel, U2, Lady Gaga, Sting, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Jimmy Buffett and the Barbra Streisand Millennium Concert. The MGM Grand Garden Arena also is home to the annual shows including Academy of Country Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, iHeartRadio Music Festival and the Frozen Fury NHL pre-season game which features the Los Angeles Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD™, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, FLIX ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND, and the network’s authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME®. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel™. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.

For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com, www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @FloydMayweather, @CaneloOficial, @MayweatherPromo, @GoldenBoyBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports, follow the conversation using #TheOne or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FloydMayweather, www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions, www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOsports.

LAS VEGAS, June 21 – It all started with a Tweet on May 29…

“I chose my opponent for September 14,” wrote Floyd “Money” Mayweather, “and it’s Canelo Alvarez. I’m giving the fans what they want. It will be at the MGM Grand.”

With that, the biggest fight of 2013 became a reality, as Mayweather, boxing’s reigning pound for pound king, will put his perfect 44-0 record on the line against Mexican superstar and undefeated Canelo in a Super Welterweight World Championship Unification bout. Tickets for the highly anticipated mega-fight go on sale Tuesday, June 25 at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 p.m. PT.

Tickets will be priced at $2,000, $1,500, $1,000, $600 and $350, not including applicable service charges, with a total ticket limit of 12 per person, a limit of 10 per person at the $2,000, $1,500, $1,000, $600 and $350 price levels and a limit of two per person at the $350 price level. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets will also be available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

Mayweather vs. Canelo, a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

THE PREFIGHT TALE OF THE TAPE

HOME COUNTRY
Mayweather: United States
Canelo: Mexico

WINS
Mayweather: 44
Canelo: 42

KNOCKOUTS
Mayweather: 26
Canelo: 30

LOSSES
Mayweather: 0
Canelo: 0

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mayweather: 8
Canelo: 3

WORLD TITLE FIGHT WINS
Mayweather: 21
Canelo: 7

COMMON OPPONENTS
Shane Mosley: Mayweather W12/Canelo W12
Carlos Baldomir: Mayweather W12/Canelo KO6

AGE
Mayweather: 36
Canelo: 22

TWITTER FOLLOWERS
Mayweather: 4,024,541 (as of Friday, June 21)
Canelo: 231,164 (as of Friday, June 21)

ATTENDANCE FOR LAST FIGHT
Mayweather: 15,880
Canelo: 39,472

GOAL ON SEPTEMBER 14
Mayweather: Win
Canelo: Win

For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com, www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @FloydMayweather, @CaneloOficial, @MayweatherPromo, @GoldenBoyBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FloydMayweather, www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions, www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOsports.

NEW YORK (June 18, 2013) – News spread like wildfire last week when details of the upcoming 11-city, two-country media tour to officially announce the September 14 mega-fight between Eight-Time, Five-Division World Champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Unified Super Welterweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez were made public.

Exact locations in each city as well as press conference start times are set and fans are encouraged to arrive early as entry into each event is available on a first come, first served basis.

**PLEASE NOTE: Media arrival times and locations are forthcoming.

Monday, June 24
New York, NY
Location: Times Square
Pedestrian Walk on Broadway Between 46th & 47th Streets
New York, NY 10036
Fan Arrival Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
Press Conference Begins: 3:00 p.m. ET

Tuesday, June 25
Washington, DC
Location: The Howard Theatre
620 T Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Fan Arrival Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Press Conference Begins: 1:00 p.m. ET

Wednesday, June 26
Grand Rapids, MI
Location: Houseman Field
2055 Rosewood Avenue SW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Fan Arrival Time: 11:00 a.m. ET
Press Conference Begins: 12:00 p.m. ET

Chicago, IL
Location: Chicago Theatre
175 North State Street
Chicago, IL 60601
Fan Arrival Time: 5:00 p.m. CT
Press Conference Begins: 6:00 p.m. CT

Thursday, June 27
Atlanta, GA
Location: Atlantic Station
1380 Atlantic Drive (Central Park between Rosa Mexicano and Strip)
Atlanta, GA 30363
Fan Arrival Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Press Conference Begins: 1:00 p.m. ET

Friday, June 28
Miami, FL
Location: Bayfront Park
100 Chopin Plaza (In front of InterContinental Miami hotel)
Miami, FL 33131
Fan Arrival Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Press Conference Begins: 1:00 p.m. ET

Sunday, June 30
Mexico City, Mexico
Location information to be announced separately.

Monday, July 1
Houston, TX
Location: Union Station at Minute Maid Stadium (Main entrance of stadium)
501 Crawford Street
Houston, TX 77002
Fan Arrival Time: 12:00 p.m. CT
Press Conference Begins: 1:00 p.m. CT

San Antonio, TX
Location: The Alamo
300 Alamo Plaza
San Antonio, TX 78205
Fan Arrival Time: 5:00 p.m. CT
Press Conference Begins: 6:00 p.m. CT

Tuesday, July 2
Phoenix, AZ
Location: Herberger Theater
222 East Monroe Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Fan Arrival Time: 11:00 a.m. MT
Press Conference Begins: 12:00 a.m. MT

Los Angeles
Location: Nokia Plaza L.A. LIVE
777 Chick Hearn Court
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Fan Arrival Time: 6:30 p.m. PT
Press Conference Begins: 7:30 p.m. PT

Mayweather vs. Canelo, a 12-round fight for Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship and Canelo’s WBA, WBC and The Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships taking place Saturday, September 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and is sponsored by Corona and O’Reilly Auto Parts, Valvoline. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event will be available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP).

Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s brilliant career and shrewd mastery of the risk-to-reward ratio are no coincidence. Mayweather has put himself into history’s pound-for-pound debate and at the top of a pay scale dominated by playmakers, quarterbacks and pitchers because he knows who to fight. And when.

Canelo Alvarez on September 14 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand is mostly a money move, motivated by disappointing pay-per-view numbers for his one-sided decision over Robert Guerrero on May 4. Reports from various media put the PPV buy rate at 875,000, despite a Showtime prediction that it would exceed one million.

If accurate, that means Showtime sustained a $12 million loss, according to Forbes. Mayweather got his $32.5 million, but probably not much more than that for his first Showtime fight in a contract worth a possible $250 million.

After just one fight in a 30-month deal for as many as six bouts, Showtime and Mayweather are partners, joined at the wallet. Showtime, a CBS subsidiary, wants to recoup losses, probably as fast as possible. And Mayweather, closer to retirement than his prime, wants to max out his income potential.

Canelo serves both masters, especially on a date that coincides with Mexico’s celebration of its independence. Canelo might not be Mexico’s best fighter. That honor still belongs to Juan Manuel Marquez. But the 38,000 fans Canelo drew to San Antonio’s Alamodome in April for his victory over Austin Trout make him the biggest draw among Mexican and Mexican-American fans, the demographic that sustains the boxing business. Canelo sells.

But September 14, announced by Mayweather on Twitter Wednesday night, isn’t only about money. If dollars were the sole motivation, we already would have seen Mayweather-versus-Manny Pacquiao. We haven’t, for reasons repeated into mind-numbing redundancy. No reason to repeat them here. Fifty-million dollars were said to be the potential payday for each during those futile talks. Fifty-million is said to be Mayweather’s potential for Canelo, whose share has yet to be reported.

Why Canelo and not Pacquiao? In calculating risk-to-reward, the guess is that Mayweather has detected flaws that make Canelo easier to beat now than Pacquiao was a couple of years ago.

Much has been made of Canelo’s maturing skillset in his unanimous decision over the left-handed Trout. However, the scorecards – 118-109, 116-111 and 115-112 – might have papered over Canelo’s weaknesses with too wide a margin.

Yes, he displayed newfound head movement. Yet, he often lunged awkwardly in attempting to land against the quick Trout, who is slick, yet possesses none of Mayweather’s calculated precision. Lunge against Mayweather, and Canelo is bound to feel the right hand that landed at will against Guerrero.

Then, there’s the foot speed. Canelo often appears flat-footed, which is what Mayweather said of Guerrero before a bout that is beginning to look like a tune-up. Mayweather has none of the foot speed he had a decade ago, but he still has a lot more than anything displayed by Canelo.

Also, there are signs of fatigue. Against Trout, Canelo appeared to tire late in the sixth round and throughout the seventh. The 36-year-old Mayweather is still able to conserve energy with carefully-orchestrated tactics. That could prove problematic for Canelo, especially late in a 12 round bout.

A lot has been made about a catch-weight, 152 pounds. It might only be cosmetic. But if there’s an effect, it’s only to Canelo, a junior-middleweight (154) who will have to work a little harder to make the mandatory for Mayweather, a natural welterweight.

At opening bell, there’s talk that Canelo could be 170, or 15 to 20 pounds heavier than Mayweather. Maybe, although Mayweather looked to be at least 160 in September 2009 when he easily beat Marquez, who collected an additional $600,000 when Mayweather was two pounds heavier than the contract’s catch-weight, 144. We’ll never know how heavy Mayweather was that night. He refused to step on the scale for HBO not long before entering the ring. But it’s safe to assume Mayweather will be heavy enough on the night of September 14.

The risk appears to be Canelo’s power. The heavy-handed red-head is dangerous, especially with effective combinations. A danger-sign for Mayweather was in the facial bruises suffered when he beat Miguel Cotto in May, 2012 at 154 pounds.

A key might be Canelo’s age. He’ll turn 23 on July 18. Youth, perhaps, will lead him into harm’s way with awkward lunges into Mayweather’s right hand with bursts of energy that will leave him fatigued. But the victory over Trout included evidence that Canelo is on a learning path toward his prime. How fast? Hard to say. But a maturing Canelo means a more dangerous one. Mayweather’s decision might be as simple as the calendar: Fight Canelo now before he gets better and Mayweather only gets older.

A loss to Mayweather in September would hurt, but hardly devastate the young Mexican. A loss is a good lesson and even a yardstick for true greatness in boxing, which more than any sport is about overcoming adversity attached to defeat. Would Muhammad Ali be the legend he is today if he had not come back from a loss to Joe Frazier? Defeat appears to be a chapter Mayweather plans to avoid.

Then again, there’s always the possibility of a rematch, or another opportunity for him, Canelo and Showtime to ride the revenue steam. But that’s another story for another day, perhaps waiting to be told on September 14.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s brilliant career and shrewd mastery of the risk-to-reward ratio are no coincidence. Mayweather has put himself into history’s pound-for-pound debate and at the top of a pay scale dominated by playmakers, quarterbacks and pitchers because he knows who to fight. And when.

Canelo Alvarez on September 14 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand is mostly a money move, motivated by disappointing pay-per-view numbers for his one-sided decision over Robert Guerrero on May 4. Reports from various media put the PPV buy rate at 875,000, despite a Showtime prediction that it would exceed one million.

If accurate, that means Showtime sustained a $12 million loss, according to Forbes. Mayweather got his $32.5 million, but probably not much more than that for his first Showtime fight in a contract worth a possible $250 million.

After just one fight in a 30-month deal for as many as six bouts, Showtime and Mayweather are partners, joined at the wallet. Showtime, a CBS subsidiary, wants to recoup losses, probably as fast as possible. And Mayweather, closer to retirement than his prime, wants to max out his income potential.

Canelo serves both masters, especially on a date that coincides with Mexico’s celebration of its independence. Canelo might not be Mexico’s best fighter. That honor still belongs to Juan Manuel Marquez. But the 38,000 fans Canelo drew to San Antonio’s Alamodome in April for his victory over Austin Trout make him the biggest draw among Mexican and Mexican-American fans, the demographic that sustains the boxing business. Canelo sells.

But September 14, announced by Mayweather on Twitter Wednesday night, isn’t only about money. If dollars were the sole motivation, we already would have seen Mayweather-versus-Manny Pacquiao. We haven’t, for reasons repeated into mind-numbing redundancy. No reason to repeat them here. Fifty-million dollars were said to be the potential payday for each during those futile talks. Fifty-million is said to be Mayweather’s potential for Canelo, whose share has yet to be reported.

Why Canelo and not Pacquiao? In calculating risk-to-reward, the guess is that Mayweather has detected flaws that make Canelo easier to beat now than Pacquiao was a couple of years ago.

Much has been made of Canelo’s maturing skillset in his unanimous decision over the left-handed Trout. However, the scorecards – 118-109, 116-111 and 115-112 – might have papered over Canelo’s weaknesses with too wide a margin.

Yes, he displayed newfound head movement. Yet, he often lunged awkwardly in attempting to land against the quick Trout, who is slick, yet possesses none of Mayweather’s calculated precision. Lunge against Mayweather, and Canelo is bound to feel the right hand that landed at will against Guerrero.

Then, there’s the foot speed. Canelo often appears flat-footed, which is what Mayweather said of Guerrero before a bout that is beginning to look like a tune-up. Mayweather has none of the foot speed he had a decade ago, but he still has a lot more than anything displayed by Canelo.

Also, there are signs of fatigue. Against Trout, Canelo appeared to tire late in the sixth round and throughout the seventh. The 36-year-old Mayweather is still able to conserve energy with carefully-orchestrated tactics. That could prove problematic for Canelo, especially late in a 12 round bout.

A lot has been made about a catch-weight, 152 pounds. It might only be cosmetic. But if there’s an effect, it’s only to Canelo, a junior-middleweight (154) who will have to work a little harder to make the mandatory for Mayweather, a natural welterweight.

At opening bell, there’s talk that Canelo could be 170, or 15 to 20 pounds heavier than Mayweather. Maybe, although Mayweather looked to be at least 160 in September 2009 when he easily beat Marquez, who collected an additional $600,000 when Mayweather was two pounds heavier than the contract’s catch-weight, 144. We’ll never know how heavy Mayweather was that night. He refused to step on the scale for HBO not long before entering the ring. But it’s safe to assume Mayweather will be heavy enough on the night of September 14.

The risk appears to be Canelo’s power. The heavy-handed red-head is dangerous, especially with effective combinations. A danger-sign for Mayweather was in the facial bruises suffered when he beat Miguel Cotto in May, 2012 at 154 pounds.

A key might be Canelo’s age. He’ll turn 23 on July 18. Youth, perhaps, will lead him into harm’s way with awkward lunges into Mayweather’s right hand with bursts of energy that will leave him fatigued. But the victory over Trout included evidence that Canelo is on a learning path toward his prime. How fast? Hard to say. But a maturing Canelo means a more dangerous one. Mayweather’s decision might be as simple as the calendar: Fight Canelo now before he gets better and Mayweather only gets older.

A loss to Mayweather in September would hurt, but hardly devastate the young Mexican. A loss is a good lesson and even a yardstick for true greatness in boxing, which more than any sport is about overcoming adversity attached to defeat. Would Muhammad Ali be the legend he is today if he had not come back from a loss to Joe Frazier? Defeat appears to be a chapter Mayweather plans to avoid.

Then again, there’s always the possibility of a rematch, or another opportunity for him, Canelo and Showtime to ride the revenue steam. But that’s another story for another day, perhaps waiting to be told on September 14.

Bradley
According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez will now fight on October 12 and stead of September 14th due to the announcement of the showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez.

“What happened was Mayweather reserved Sept. 14 with the (pay-per-view) industry and we always said that we will respect that reservation and that if he went against anybody we would move,” said Top Rank’s Bob Arum. “We had a second hold on that date. Now, once he elected to go on that date then we shifted to Oct. 12. That is why we had Thomas & Mack on hold for both dates. This is something we completely anticipated.”

“I didn’t care and I talked to Tim (on Wednesday night) and he was like, ‘That’s fine. Hey, (Mayweather-Alvarez is) great for boxing, right?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s a huge fight. You don’t really care about moving do you?’ He said no,” said Cameron Dunkin, Bradley’s manager. “Whether Timmy and Marquez are fighting in September or October doesn’t matter to me and Tim doesn’t care either. We both said the same thing — that (Mayweather-Alvarez) is great for boxing and who cares if we have to move a month.”

“He said he’ll start doing some light workouts in early June,” Dunkin said. “Nothing crazy. He just wants to keep his weight down and do some running. But he’s got to be careful not to overtrain because he loves to fight and he gets excited about a fight and wants to train like 10 or 12 weeks when he should be doing about eight weeks.”

It was also found out that Welterweights Jesse Vargas and Mikael Zewski will appear on the undercard in seperate bouts.

“Vargas will be on the pay-per-view if he fights somebody,” Arum said. “We’re not doing appearance fights on the pay-per-view. If he fights somebody real he will be on the pay-per-view, like (newly signed Top Rank fighter Luis Carlos) Abregu. That’s a good fight. You don’t want us to put on junk on the pay-per-view. Zewski, same thing. He is fine to be on the pay-per-view but is he ready for prime time and will he fight somebody?”

Arum said another fighter who could be on the pay-per-view telecast is light heavyweight brawler Seanie Monaghan (18-0, 11 KOs), a New Yorker who is a popular ticket seller in New York.

“We’re talking about having him on,” Arum said. “We want to put on somebody that the New York papers will write about. He’s a pretty good draw and he makes great fights, so that’s somebody we are considering.”

According to his official Twitter account, Pound for Pound King Floyd Mayweather will take on WBC/WBA Super Welterweight champion Saul Alvarez on September 14th in Las Vegas.

The official statement read: “I chose my opponent for September 14th and it’s Canelo Alvarez. I’m giving the fans what they want. It will be at the MGM Grand”

The rumor is the bout will be contested at 152 lbs.