Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will welcome Jermell Charlo to the super-middleweight ranks soon, giving the American a shot at his four world titles.
Floyd Mayweather – a boxing legend and one-time opponent of Canelo’s – believes there’s a chance the Mexican could ‘get old overnight.’
Speaking to FightHype about his former foe, Mayweather said that he would be going into the fight with Charlo with ‘a lot of wear and tear’ and that in boxing you can ‘get old overnight.’
“It’s a lot of wear and tear – boxing is a lot of wear and tear. You can get old overnight. You can, it’s how boxing is. You look at these fighters.”
Canelo is 33, but an old 33 in terms of his record. The Charlo bout will be his 64th fight in a career that kicked off in Mexica in 2005. He says that he has around three years left in boxing.
If miles on the clock is a disadvantage for the Mexican, he has plenty in his favour too. Charlo is currently undisputed at super-welterweight, meaning he’ll be jumping up two divisions for the challenge.
Although he’s a naturally big man, he’s not been in the ring with super-middle power in his pro career – of which Canelo has plenty.
Mayweather went on to address the point more generally, stating that there should be more checks and tests for fighters with long careers regardless of apparent signs of damage.
“When I got fighters, we’ve got to be smart about this in the business.
You don’t ever want to say nothing to the athletic commission about certain fighters, their health, but their health is very important. So we have to start doing more research and more tests on these fighters if we genuinely care.”
Canelo – who isn’t as elite as he once was in the eyes of many fans – puts it all on the line again on September 30, with Charlo looking to shock the world.