"I'm a welterweight fighter, I'm not a jr. middleweight at all, but I think with my skill level, and my smarts...I truly believe in my skills. We'll see how the fight is going to play out, but I truly believe I'm going to be victorious. I must train hard and dedicate myself...Canelo is young, he's hungry, and I think he's going to bring the best out of Floyd Mayweather...He's the WBA and he's the WBC champion, but I'm the super champion, so we'll just see how the fight plays out come September 14. I can't wait. Actually, I want the fans to start booking their flights and their hotels right now. This fight is going to be truly unbelievable," stated undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, who spoke exclusively to FightHype.com shortly after announcing his September 14 showdown with undefeated jr. middleweight champion Saul Alvarez. You don't want to miss what he had to say about the fight, Alvarez, and much more. Check it out!
BT: What's up, Champ? Obviously, you just made the big announcement about your next fight. How did the decision to face Canelo come about?
FM: Basically, I was communicating back and forth with my go-to guys, Al Haymon and Leonard Ellerbe, and we talked about the next 5 fights making sense, so at this particular time, I think this fight makes a lot of sense. I think it's best that we title this fight "The Best vs. The Best" because at this particular time, they say he's the best jr. middleweight and I feel like I'm the best fighter in the world, and so the people want to see the best against the best. You know, like I said, Al Haymon and Leonard Ellerbe, both those guys have done a great job. I'm blessed and I couldn't do it without the fans.
BT: The fight is taking place at 152 pounds. Was that something that you specifically wanted or was it something that both sides thought would be fair given that he's the naturally bigger man?
FM: If I'm not mistaken, they came on record and said they wanted to meet at a catchweight [Following his November 2011 victory over Kermit Cintron, Alvarez stated, "It's what I want, the Mayweather fight. That's what we put on the table. I feel more mature and for that I am willing to go down to 150 pounds."], so we came up with 152 and both parties said we're comfortable with that. You're going to hear people criticize me and say, "You're doing the same thing Pacquiao is doing, fighting everybody at a catchweight." No I'm not because Pacquiao presents that to his opponents. Once again, these people brought this to me. They said, "Well, we'll fight Mayweather at a catchweight." That's all you had to say. You said that. I didn't bring that to you guys; you guys brought that to me. Once you brought that to me, then I said, "Well, we can meet in the middle." Then you said, "No, we don't want to meet in the middle. We want to meet at 152." So I said, "Let's make it happen!"
BT: This will be the third time that you're fighting above your natural weight. You're going to be giving up a lot of weight to him come fight night; probably more than you've ever given up to anyone in the past.
FM: Yes, I'm a welterweight fighter, I'm not a jr. middleweight at all, but I think with my skill level, and my smarts, and of course with my father being one of the best trainers to ever live and my Uncle Roger being one of the best trainers to ever live, we can always make things happen. I think we're going to have the perfect game plan come September 14.
BT: Do you think that's an unfair expectation to have of someone who is naturally smaller though? I mean, I know you've got the skills, but is it fair to think that you have to test those skills against guys that are 20-30 pounds bigger than you just because you haven't had many truly difficult or grueling fights throughout your career?
FM: Like I said before, they're going to keep bringing up different fighters' names and keep making fighters to try and knock Floyd Mayweather off the throne. Just like at first you was hearing the Pacquiao name for so long. Then, once he took a spill, you started hearing the Canelo name. I mean, once again, I'm a welterweight. Floyd Mayweather is a welterweight, but I've been to jr. middleweight a couple times and I've won world titles at jr. middleweight. You know, I truly believe in my skills. We'll see how the fight is going to play out, but I truly believe I'm going to be victorious. I must train hard and dedicate myself. He's young and hungry. He's a guy that I know that I can't overlook, and I don't overlook no guy. I feel like once we get the job done, then there's going to be another guy. There's this guy and there's that guy. The only thing I can say is there's been guys for 17 years. The only thing I can do is continue to beat the guy that they put in front of me.
BT: Well, I think you certainly silenced some critics with your announcement; not only about the opponent, but about fighting again in September. It's been 6 years since you fought twice in one year.
FM: I just want to stay active. You know, I have 5 fights left and I just want to stay active and fight solid competition. Like I said before, Canelo is young, he's hungry, and I think he's going to bring the best out of Floyd Mayweather.
BT: Have you already seen everything that you need to see in Canelo to know what to expect from him come September 14?
FM: I mean, I have so much experience, you know. My father, he's the trainer, so I let him study tapes. I let my Uncle Roger study tapes; I let my team study tapes. My father's going to tell me things that he do good and things that he don't do good. Whatever he do do good, then, you know, we'll have to be a lot sharper in that department.
BT: So basically, you're not really concerned about what he's bringing to the table. He needs to be more concerned about everything that you're bringing.
FM: (Laughing) Well, we'll see what he brings to the table. Like I said before, at this particular time, they say I'm the super champion at jr. middleweight. He's the WBA and he's the WBC champion, but I'm the super champion, so we'll just see how the fight plays out come September 14. I can't wait. Actually, I want the fans to start booking their flights and their hotels right now. This fight is going to be truly unbelievable.
BT: Do you think you'll approach or potentially break your record for pay-per-view sales with this fight?
FM: Well, hopefully. The only thing I can do is keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. Canelo is a good fighter, you know, he's a very good fighter and it's obvious he done something right thus far to get to this point, and he done it at a quick pace. I mean, you don't get to this level by not doing something right, so I know I can't overlook him. I gotta stay focused and push myself to the limit in training camp.
BT: Well, I know you're getting it in in Miami, Champ, so I don't want to keep you. Is there anything else you want me to put out there before I let you go?
FM: Like I said before, man, to all the loyal fans, I'm just thankful. To all the FightHype fans that come to the site on the regular, you know you're getting the real from FightHype when it's dealing with Floyd Mayweather. It's no different than when I give you behind-the-scenes footage after the fight. I think a lot of writers and a lot of people are jealous because you're able to come into my life, get the behind-the-scenes and get a chance to get the footage that no one else is able to get. The reason why I give you that footage is because you give me a fair chance; and all I ask for is just a fair chance. I just want to thank all the FightHype fans and all the fans that have been supporting me over the years. I'm going to continue to give you guys exciting boxing and September 14th is going to be another pay-per-view blockbuster. I'll be ready to go.
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