‘He’s lowered the credibility of boxing’: Alvarez lashes out at Mayweather, demands rematch
Middleweight world champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez has fired back at Floyd Mayweather Jr and called for a rematch following the American’s recent jibes about their fight being "the easiest work" he’d ever had.
Canelo lost a decision to Mayweather back in 2013, and the American referenced their fight during a press event at his TMT gym in Las Vegas to promote his upcoming exhibition bout with Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in Tokyo on New Year's Eve.
Speaking ahead of his latest bout against Britain's Rocky Fielding on Saturday night, Alvarez told US outlet TMZ Sports that he can't understand why Mayweather would jab at him.
"The truth is, I have nothing to say to him. He's bothered, but I don't know why," he said.
"In reality, he said he was old but I was too young to take that fight. Those are just arguments that he can have, and I can have as well. We can keep talking, but it looks like it's getting to him."
The Mexican admitted he didn't have "the slightest idea" what Mayweather, 41, was doing with regard to his upcoming exhibition bout with Nasukawa, but said he harbored a desire to face 'Money' in a rematch, suggesting he wasn't quite experienced enough to take full advantage of his first opportunity against the pound-for-pound great.
“For a long time, since the first loss I had against him, they always ask me (about a rematch), and there’s a thorn in there," he said.
“I would love to have an opportunity for revenge and be able to show other things at this point in my career. I think with more experience, it would be very different.
“But he is a retired boxer who comes and goes. He is taking care of his own things. We know how he is, but if there is a possibility and he wants to return to boxing and he wants to make this fight, I would love it.
“For boxing, it would be great, and he would give boxing something worth watching. Lately, the only thing he has done is lower the credibility of the sport with the fights he has fought. It would be good to have a rematch with him."
Alvarez will move up a weight class this weekend to face WBA super-middleweight world champion Rocky Fielding at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night in a bid to become a three-weight world champion.
He previously held multiple versions of the light-middleweight world title before moving up to capture the WBC, WBA and The Ring titles at middleweight.
The 28-year-old recently signed a huge $365 million contract with US sports streaming platform DAZN to exclusively show his fights live, with Saturday's bout with Fielding the first to be shown under the new deal.
