Weight takes centre stage in Mayweather-Alvarez battle
American should have the advantage in one of the biggest fights in recent times after Mexican rival was forced to slim down to 152 pounds
Listen to Floyd Mayweather Jnr's people and Canelo Alvarez wanted to fight their man so badly he offered to drop a few pounds to get him to sign on the dotted line.
Listen to the Alvarez camp and Mayweather wanted the fight at an even lower weight that Alvarez would have to starve himself to make. "The truth," promoter Richard Schaefer says, "lies somewhere in the middle."
Weight is centre stage again in one of the biggest fights in recent years. This morning's (Hong Kong time) megafight is officially for a version of the 154-pound title held by Alvarez, but will be fought at 152, harder for Alvarez to make than Mayweather.
"They're the ones who said they would fight at a lower weight," said Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's manager. "We can't help it Alvarez has idiots for managers, but we're going to take every advantage they give us."
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Alvarez is physically bigger at 5-foot-9 than Mayweather and has had to lose good amounts of weight in some of his recent fights just to get to 154 pounds.