Canelo Alvarez Likened To Floyd Mayweather Because Of This Aspect

A former world champion has come up with a bold take on Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s career.

At one point in his career, Floyd Mayweather Jr. became the biggest draw in boxing. To this day, many believe that he still is, but the self-proclaimed “The Best Ever” has already got his sights locked on different ways to make money in the sport.

On the other hand, Alvarez, who has turned into a different beast since losing to Mayweather in 2014, is presenting a strong case to become the face of boxing. And according to former welterweight champion Keith Thurman, Canelo is following Mayweather’s blueprint.

Thurman based his theory on the trajectory of Alvarez’s plans after ending the past year with a bang in the middleweight division. For “One Time,” Alvarez's yearning to move up to cruiserweight when he still has an array of worthy opponents in the middleweight is a very Mayweather-like style of ducking.

“Yes, but so what,” Thurman told Fight Hub TV when asked if Alvarez is avoiding both Jermall Charlo and David Benavidez. “He’s Canelo. The people love him. He has a huge following. He’s brought tons of excitement.”

“You can say he’s cherry-picked a little bit, but he kinda learned from the best,” he continued. “He got beat by Floyd [Mayweather], and now he’s starting to make money like Floyd.”

The 33-year-old also weighed in on Alvarez’s desire to challenge WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu. As per Thurman, there are “greater challengers” for Alvarez at this point, but the fact of the matter is that the Mexican superstar is currently the top dog and has the right to turn them down.

“Are there greater challengers for Canelo Alvarez? Most definitely,” he stressed. “Are there fights that I would truly love to see? Most definitely. Are there super talented individuals that might be able to give him problems? Definitely. Does he have to do any of those things? Absolutely not.”

In an earlier interview, Alvarez’s longtime trainer Eddy Reynoso bared that though they are considering a fight against Charlo and a trilogy fight with Gennady Golovkin, he strongly believes that his pupil can dominate cruiserweight as well.

With that in mind, Reynoso wants to strike while the iron is hot.

"Now that we are going to get to cruiserweight, I see it being feasible that Saul can win, that's why I asked for the fight,” Reynoso explained. “In the gym, [Canelo] fights with heavyweights, and I have seen how he's knocked them out in the gym.”

"As champions, we have to look for the best opponents, fighters with titles, who generate expectations,” he added. “We want to fight Charlo, and there is also Golovkin.”