Canelo says he has blueprint to beating Mayweather

MANILA, Philippines – As Floyd Mayweather Jr. loved to say, “44 have tried and 44 have failed,” referring to his unbeaten run as a professional boxer.

So will Mayweather’s upcoming opponent, Saul Alvarez, end up as victim number 45 or will he finally end the brash American’s streak? Alvarez believes in the latter, saying he has figured out Mayweather in a way that his previous opponents never had.

In a report by boxingscene.com’s Luis Sandoval, Alvarez bared he has found the key to defeating Mayweather, considered as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the planet today. The Mexican, also undefeated in 43 fights, clashes with Mayweather in his toughest challenge to date on Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"I think [Mayweather’s previous] opponents get desperate. They want to rip his head off. They want to hit him everywhere and tear his head off but I don't think that's how you do it. There are different ways to win and [on] September 14th you'll see how," said Alvarez, popularly known as “Canelo” in the boxing community.

He singled out Mayweather’s fight with Puerto Rican banger Miguel Cotto in May last year, where the American appeared the most vulnerable he had been in years. In that bout, Cotto left Mayweather with a bloody nose, though the latter would still run away with a unanimous decision victory.

"Cotto did great in two to three rounds but ultimately, he would lose his head and fall into Mayweather's gameplan and that's when Mayweather would hit him. When he stuck to his game plan he penetrated his guard and hit him good. He fought a real good fight but obviously he didn't fight the whole fight like in the rounds where he penetrated the guard. The rounds vary and that's what made him lose, but he fought a good fight and that's where you can learn and take things away from that fight," Alvarez explained.

The 23-year-old fighter then went on to mention other fighter who had fared well against Mayweather, including Oscar De La Hoya and Jose Luis Castillo.

"I think Cotto gave him a good fight, he fought him well. Oscar De La Hoya. For me Oscar De La Hoya won their fight. Jose Luis Castillo gave him a good fight. A lot of people say he won that fight but to me, honestly, he didn't win that fight but he did give him a good fight. I think those are the fights where his opponents have been able to penetrate his guard and he had difficult time," he said.

Mayweather has recently abandoned his “safety first” style and become more engaging and flat-footed in an effort to be more entertaining, as evidenced by his fights with Cotto and most recently Robert Guerrero.

Alvarez hopes to pounce on the opportunity, but will he succeed? Boxing fans will know in two weeks.