Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez says he put his first defeat to Floyd Mayweather down to ‘experience’ ahead of his blockbuster trilogy fight against Gennady Golovkin.
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez says he put his first defeat to Floyd Mayweather down to ‘experience’ ahead of his blockbuster trilogy fight against Gennady Golovkin.
The Mexican is in the final stages of preparation for his September 17 rubber match with his old middleweight rival, which will headline the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Canelo Alvarez, 31, was beaten on points by Dmitry Bivol, also 31, back in May, the second defeat of his professional career.
Before that though he suffered his first loss as a professional after losing a controversial split decision to Mayweather in 2013.
During an appearance on the DAZN Originals series ‘The Making Of’, Canelo reflected on the first time he had to deal with taking a loss, and how it has changed him as a fighter ever since.
“Simply, it was down to experience. If I compare that Canelo with Canelo today, they are completely different. It’d be a completely different fight now [against Mayweather],” he said, in quotes reported by BoxingScene.com.
Canelo Alvarez takes on Gennady Golovkin on September 17
“I’ve always said that perhaps if I’d won that night, everything would have come my way. Fame, money, and perhaps it wouldn’t have worked out well then. I could’ve perhaps gone crazy.
“It wasn’t my moment. That’s how I take it, it wasn’t my moment. It took me a few days for me to accept it.”
READ MORE: Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin 3: Mexican might be feeling ‘burned out’ ahead of trilogy fight
Admittedly it’s not the first time that Canelo has spoken about that first blemish on his record.
Speaking on the ‘Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson’ podcast, he said: “I know what happened, I’m going to be with my trainer all my life, because I know.
“When I fought with Floyd, I was 23. I always think I need to fight first with Cotto, Lara and all of those guys and then Floyd.
“But that’s what it is. I needed more experience, more mature. I don’t take that fight like a loss, I learned from that fight.
“When I fought Miguel Cotto. That was my best fight. I feel like when I won that fight I felt like ‘Okay, my best moment is coming.’”
