Floyd Mayweather Jr v Saul Alvarez

In boxing some fights seem bigger than the actual sport, fights like Louis v Schmelling II, Johnson v Jeffries and even Ali v Fraizer I. Whilst no one will describe this weekend's bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr (44-0, 26) and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (42-0-1, 30) as being that big, it's undeniably one of the biggest possible fights in the sport today (I'd argue a Klitschko v Klitschko fight would be bigger, though has about 0% chance of ever happening).

With the WBA "Super" and WBC "Regular" titles both on the line the bout is something special. Easily the biggest fight of the year, and maybe the biggest fight, in terms of revenue, ever. It's a fight that has surpassed the boxing media and even the sports media as it's climbed into the mainstream and given boxing a real shot in the arm.

Whilst it's a massive fight, don't get me wrong on that, is it really a fight that will live up to the hype or will it, like many Mayweather fights, become a case of a highly talented boxer totally out fighting an under-skilled and limited fighter who has as many dimensions to his game as a piece of paper?

Mayweather, at his best, combines the elusiveness of Nicolino Locche with the hand speed of Sugar Ray Leonard, the stamina of Pete Sanstol and the boxing brains of, well, a genius. The guy might be an unlikable, arrogant loud mouth outside of the squared circle but between those ropes the guy really is the modern version of "Nonpariel" and in fact you would need to find a time machine to find him an equal match.

Dream fights with Mayweather would of course feature the Fab 4, Sandy Saddler, Sugar Ray Robinson and Henry Armstrong. The fact it's those men, the greatest fighters of all time, who are matched in mythical fights with Mayweather really should tell you something. This man is a special, once in a generation talent.

Sadly for Canelo he's not. Despite the Mexican's love for their ginger haired icon he's really moving up 3 levels here. He's no longer facing decent fighters, he's facing a elite talent. There is a huge leap from the likes of "Magic" Matthew Hatton, Josesito Lopez, Alfonso Gomez and Shane Mosley to Floyd Mayweather Jr. In fact the leap from Hatton, Lopez and Mosley to Austin Trout, the best win on Alvarez's record, is only a fraction of the leap up from Trout to Mayweather.

Unfortunately for "Canelo" not only is he taking a big step up in class but he'll be fighting in a very different environment to what he usually has. In his last fight he was the clear crowd favourite as he took on Austin Trout in Texas, with a crowd that was on his side from the start of the show. The crowd that night certainly helped him with the judges. This time however he's entering Mayweather's proverbial boxing home in the MGM Grand, the venue where "Money" has fought his past 7 bouts.

In the build up Mayweather may have received some boos from the Mexican's turning up for public appearances but at the MGM he'll not have the same negativity thrust his way.

Canelo is, for me, the hype that disgusts true boxing fans. Canelo is, at this moment ranked #3 pound-for-pound by Boxrec.com and #9 by Ring Magazine. What he did to achieve these accolades is frankly ridiculous and is insulting to fighters like Roman Gonzalez, Kazuto Ioka, Guillermo Rigondeaux and Mickey Garcia who are all more proven and have better fundamentals than Alvarez.

The worst limitations for Alvarez are things that Mayweather will know about all too well. For example Alvarez appears to have the stamina of 60 year old man, the boxing intelligence of a domestic level fighter and the inability to really think about both offense and defense at the same time. Asking Alvarez to show off his defense is fine, asking him to show off his offense is also fine but asking him to counter a fighter appears to be like asking a child to do calculus.

Against a fighter like Mayweather you need to be able to transition flawless between defense and offense to have any chance. You need to have an intelligent boxing brain and the ability to jab between Mayweather's own work.

Many reading this will be screaming at their screen saying "but Canelo is bigger!" Whilst this is true he's also slower, clumsier, and less skilled. A weight advantage won't really help when you're eating right hands like candy and with out trying to be to harsh Canelo will be punished for his boxing knowledge much like a red headed step child with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

Prediction-Mayweather UD12

Floyd Mayweather Jr v Robert Guerrero

Pound-for-Pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr (43-0, 26) returns to the ring for the  first time in almost a year as he defends his WBC Welterweight title against the once beaten Robert Guerrero (31-1-1-2, 18). The bout, the first of a possible 6 bouts that Showtime will show of Mayweather will see "Money" attempting to finish off the recent rise of "The Ghost".

Aged 36 Mayweather takes not only the premier spot on most pound-for-pound charts but also one of the best records in the sport and the position as the #1 pay-per-view attraction. Though with his age comes deteriorating speed and reflexes which won't have been helped by spending a notable time in jail away from the gym and the highly level nutrition he's used to.

At his very best Mayweather is a slick counter puncher who combines very solid technical skills, impressive speed, fantastic accuracy and cat like reflexes. Defensively his shoulder-roll has proven to be near impenetrable and has helped him survive so long at the top whilst taking so little damage. Offensively he's been criticised due to his perceived lack of power though when he wishes to be spiteful he can hurt fighters with his laser guided straight right. So accurate is Mayweather that he can often lead with a straight right hands and get back in to a defensive posture before his opponent knows what has hit them.

Although Mayweather is no longer at his "best" with his feet being visibly slower than they once were he's also become more offensively minded than he once was. His pot shotting is still a delight and his combinations are a thing of beauty. In fact getting older has helped Mayweather become more offensively minded than he was when he was younger. He's not become a swarmer or a fighter looking for a war fight-in-fight out yet he's become a more offensively minded boxer.

Looking for the biggest victory of his career Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero looks to prove that he belongs in the pound-for-pound argument. Aged "just" 30 Guerrero is a fighter who has filled out from a Featherweight into a perfectly sized Welterweight who is 2-0 at 147lbs and has beaten two well regarded fighters in Selcuk Aydin and Andre Berto.

Fighting from the Southpaw stance Guerrero has proven he can box, as he did against both Aydin and Michael Katsidis as well as brawl as he did in a messy bout with Andre Berto. Whilst it was obvious that he was hurt against Aydin (especially late) he appeared to be a fully blown Welterweight against Berto where he was forcing Berto backwards repeatedly and even dropped him twice. Sure Berto is no Mayweather but it was still impressive.

For Guerrero the big question is "how do you solve a problem like Mayweather?" Trying to box him isn't an option and doing so will see him tagged by the accurate and under-rated straight right which, as we all know, is a massive threat to Southpaws. Trying to brawl might be his best option and whilst Mayweather tends not to get drawn in to them he certainly can be dirty and hold his own in them when he needs to.

The battle, at least in my eyes looks to be lost by Guerrero before the first blow has been thrown, despite the fact Guerrero has been stealing the headlines going in to the bout.

Prediction-Mayweather TKO10