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More than two weeks have passed since Canelo Alvarez experienced, for the first time as a professional, the taste of defeat.

Hitting the wall was hard on the former junior middleweight titlist after he and his team believed things would go very differently against Floyd Mayweather Jr., who won a split decision that, in truth, boxing's pound-for-pound king dominated.

But Alvarez, it seems, is slowly bouncing back. He will get back into the gym this week to loosen up and then fly to Los Angeles to talk about available options before deciding on his next move.

In an interview with ESPN Deportes, Alvarez's trainer, Eddy Reynoso, said that the highest-profile available 154-pound fight for Canelo now is a bout with Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto.

"He's the biggest name, Cotto," Reynoso said. "I think we would be the most ideal, but we have to see how he goes with Delvin Rodriguez on Oct. 5.

"Alfredo Angulo is coming off a defeat by knockout, Victor Ortiz hasn't fought in a while, Vanes Martirosyan isn't that well known in the pay-per-view market, [and neither is] Erislandy Lara. But we are not crossing anyone off or putting anyone in line; those are just names."

Former middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who on Saturday won a disputed decision over Bryan Vera after paying to increase the weight limit to 173 pounds (in a bout whose originally contracted weight was 160), recently expressed his interest in facing Alvarez at middleweight.

"It's an interesting bout, but I think that Chavez won't move down to 160 again. He's a tall guy," Reynoso said. "It would be difficult for him to make the weight. Besides, we don't need to hand out advantages. We'll continue at 154 pounds, we'll stay there."

Alvarez's team has analyzed the Mayweather loss and accepted that the Canelo was blown out of the ring by great defense, better velocity and vital experience, along with Mayweather's technical advantages.

"In this fight, there were a lot of important things that led to the defeat," Reynoso said. "We showed that [Canelo] is a marketable fighter, with good ratings here [in Mexico] and there [in the United States]. We have to do big things. We're on a very prestigious level.

"We prepared ourselves like never before. We did everything, we took everything in account, were aware of all the aspects, but we have to recognize that Mayweather is an excellent fighter. There are no excuses. We like to recognize when we win, [but] we lost to a great boxer."

CARSON, Calif. -- No matter how you saw Saturday's main event at the StubHub Center unfolding, Bryan Vera was a victim.

Vera lost a unanimous decision to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., but the Texas fighter wasn't alone in thinking he had done more than enough to earn the judges' approval.

"I think they know what happened in this fight, and I feel that I won," he said of fans in attendance, many of whom booed the decision -- which was scored 96-94, 97-93 and 98-92 for Chavez. "I was better than him, boxing-wise, and he hit me with a couple of shots because I was being very aggressive, because I felt I had to do that to beat him at his house."

Vera couldn't hide his frustration.

"I'm disappointed," he said. "I'm winning, and my trainer told me I was the winner. When I heard the 98-92 card, I felt they were going to steal it. I felt sick."

Vera said fighting at 173 pounds -- a catchweight that was settled on after the limit had been moved (more than once) from 160 -- favored him, contrary to conventional prefight wisdom.

"I felt like the biggest and the strongest," he said. "I'm a warrior and I sent him backwards the entire fight. He hit me a couple of times because I was moving very fast, but every time, I connected against him."

Vera believes he dominated the fight, moving Chavez around the ring as he pleased and outpunching his opponent, although those factors didn't translate on the scorecards.

After the fight, Vera was outspoken about his wish for a rematch, though he had his doubts that it would happen.

"I would love to face him again," he said. "I don’t think he wants to do it."

Vera brushed off the allegations of Chavez, who complained repeatedly during and after the fight of head-butts and low blows.

"I can be messy, and he has a big head, so I can fight the same way," he said. "He was doing what he likes to do. I don't think I fought that dirty."

CARSON, Calif. -- Not that it came as a surprise, but Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. claimed he was a worthy winner after Saturday's unanimous-decision win over Bryan Vera, and he even ventured that he would have finished his foe before the cards were read had it not been for an injury.

Chavez said he was told by the ringside doctor that he had likely broken his right hand, which Chavez said he injured by "snapping" it on Vera's hand in the fourth round.

"I could not finish him," Chavez said. "I hurt him three times in the fight, and in the 10th round he no longer wanted to fight."

Chavez said that had it not been for the injury, he would have knocked out Bryan Vera.

"In the 10th round I hurt him with a punch to the liver," he said. "I really think I didn't knock him out because I broke my hand."

The judges saw Chavez as the unanimous winner, but the scores -- 96-94, 97-93 and 98-92 -- went against most expert analysis and the majority of fans in attendance at the StubHub Center, who booed the announced results.

"I respect everyone's opinion," Chavez said. "People wanted a knockout -- that was the reason."

According to Compubox numbers, Vera outlanded (176 to 125) and outpunched (734 to 328) Chavez, and also connected with more power shots. But Chavez said he landed the better punches in the fight.

"I give Vera my respect because he's a very seasoned fighter," he said. "But he threw a lot of punches that were not effective, and I definitely won most of the rounds and connected with the best shots."

Chavez said his opponent never had any clearly dominant moments, and he claimed that he had the fight under control.

"Maybe in three rounds he had more activity than I did, but he didn't win a clear round," Chavez said.

Chavez said his recent inactivity -- he hadn't fought in a little more than a year -- played a role in what most would consider a disappointing performance, although he again pointed to the injury as the determining factor.

"It affected me a bit," he said of the ring rust, "but I felt bad. The problem was my hand."

And although he praised the work of his father, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. -- who was working in an official capacity in his son's corner for the first time on Saturday -- and trainer Vladimir Baldenebro, the fighter said he plans to work again with former coach Freddie Roach.

"Freddie is a great trainer, and I want to continue working with him," Chavez said of Roach, who had manned Chavez's corner in each of the fighter's previous seven bouts. "In the corner [against Vera], my dad was pushing me and helped me a lot."

Chavez pointed to an alteration in his style, which included more movement, as being a key to his win.

"We worked a lot more on moving from side to side," he said. "I think that puzzled Vera because he knew I was going to press. I'll keep working to improve it."

Chavez said he would like to fight again in 2013, although that will depend on the status of his hand. What seems more certain is that, despite his opponent's postfight comments seeking a rematch, Chavez won't fight Vera again.

"I'm ready for a rematch, but I don't need it because I clearly won," Chavez said.

Barclays Center will stage its fifth fight night on Monday, with a card unfolding in the Cushman & Wakefield Theater, topped by a Sadam Ali-Jay Krupp main event.

Ali and others on the bill, including Staten Island's Marcus Browne, showed up at Gleason's in DUMBO on Thursday to hype the Golden Boy event.

Ali, a Brooklyn resident who had a place on the 2008 U.S. Olympic squad, has taken his time to get to this place. He staged his own cards and stayed independent until he and his father/manager, Mahmoud, who stood next to the 25-year-old hitter while he chatted with NYFightblog, found the right terms. I asked Sadam if he had ever gotten impatient, to the point of severe frustration, since turning pro in March 2010 and seeing some other folks who arguably might not be as skilled as he is get signed to promotional deals.

"No," he said, "not at all. I knew this day would come."

And what about the father?

"Of course I did," the father admitted with a tiny grin. "I'm just always wanting what's best for my son."

The 16-0 welterweight takes on the 17-5 Krupp, who features a Mike Tyson-style peek-a-boo look he honed under ex-Tyson trainer Kevin Rooney. Ali didn't seem phased by the Tyson talk. "He can't peek-a-boo me if he can't see me," Ali said.

The 22-year-old Browne finished skipping rope, and I approached him for a quick chat. What if, I said, you upstage your pal Sadam, I asked. Will you feel bad?

"Of course not," the 6-0 light heavy said. "That's what you're supposed to do! Boxing isn't a team sport." Browne takes on 5-1-1 Lamont Williams, who is a half-step up from anyone he has tangled with before as a pro.

All the fighters seemed to be on message, and Ali, for one, was tested. Thursday was his birthday, and publicist Kelly Swanson presented him with a cupcake.

"I can't eat it," Ali said. "I'll eat it after the fight."

LOS ANGELES -- Bryan Vera is patiently awaiting Saturday's turn against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., calmly steering clear of the distractions surrounding his opponent's weight.

As late as Wednesday night, the official weight limit for the bout hadn't yet been decided -- it was finally settled on Thursday morning -- but the Texas native claimed that it didn't affect him at all.

"I'm just trying to ignore it, and that is something that I have been doing from long before," Vera said. "I've been in this game for a long time and I have a great team. They keep me focused and busy. I let them deal with it because I have faith in them. If you have people you trust by your side, you should let them handle it."

Vera said that the situation didn't, and won't, change his routine or diet leading up to the fight. But the last-minute changes to the weight limit (originally contracted at 168 pounds, it's now set for 173) and number of rounds (down to 10 from 12) were enough of an issue that Chavez's side had to give up a six-figure sum, as reported by ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, to persuade Vera's team to go through with the bout.

"Obviously, he will be penalized because this is what we agreed on," Vera said of the 168-pound limit. "It's a slap in the face and a lack of respect, but I have a team and I'll let them handle this."

And there it is: Vera isn't completely serene in the face of all the wrangling in the final moments leading up to Saturday's clash. Might the perceived disrespect fuel him on fight night?

"It could give him an extra motivation because of who he's facing," said Vladimir Baldenebro, Chavez's trainer. "He will want to beat us and go away with everything, but tell me, who fights with Julio that doesn't come well prepared? That's why we prepared well, because we know that our rival will come out with everything."

Chavez was in agreement, suggesting that lower-profile fighters such as Vera have a built-in edge when facing him.

"I think that they are the most dangerous fighters because they have everything to win and nothing to lose," he said. "It's the complete opposite for me."

Vera seems to be embracing that nothing-to-lose attitude and has repeatedly claimed that he's ready to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him.

"It's a great opportunity, the biggest of my life and my boxing career," he said. "It could get me closer to a lot of things and open doors for [more] opportunities."

On Sept. 13, Rafael Vazquez got tagged with a shot that buzzed him badly: Doctors told his wife, Sandra, that she has cervical cancer. That was actually the second shot that landed on the Vazquez family; Rafael's six-year-old daughter, Ayleae, was diagnosed as autistic.

The health worries came at an inopportune time: Eight days later Vazquez was scheduled to fight Leon Moore, a 30-2 fighter from Guyana, at Resorts World Casino in Jamaica, Queens, for the New York State super bantamweight title.

The Puerto Rico-born boxer, who grew up in Bushwick and has lived in Howard Beach for the past nine years, admitted to NYFightblog that he contemplated pulling out of the fight. Nobody would have blinked and all involved would have understood if Vazquez did what he had to do to support his family. "But then I remembered, I'm a professional, a fighter, and I said, 'I'm going to fight to take care of my family,'" said Vazquez, the father of four.

In Round 8, Moore had Vazquez hurt. His corner told him that Moore would be looking to finish and that he might get overaggressive, and that could leave an opening. It did: A left hook and two rights from Vazquez sent Moore on his back, hard, and gave Vazquez (9-1), who deserves some good news, a ninth-round TKO win. It was the fight of the night in front of about 2,000 fans at Resorts.

Promoter Felipe Gomez was still buzzing on Monday morning. "Oh my God, it was an epic ending," he said. "Vazquez was down on all three cards, but I could see how determined he was still to win. Going into the fight, he wasn't in the right state of mind and instead of quitting, he said, 'I'm not going to.'"

Vazquez is fortunate in that he has a full-time job, at the UFC gym in Manhattan, and has a decent health insurance plan. He said doctors are optimistic that they can eradicate Sandra's cancer, and results have come in that show Ayleae's recent health scare was a false alarm.

"Yes, some days it gets to you, but I pray to a higher power, and I'm focused on taking care of my family," Vazquez said.

Trainer Freddie Roach will return to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.'s corner after his Sept. 28 fight against Brian Vera, according to the former middleweight champ.

Moreover, Chavez didn't rule out the notion of Roach helping him against Vera, whom he'll take on at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, Calif.

"Vladimir Baldenegro, who is my trainer, will be in charge of my corner," Chavez told ESPNDeportes.com. "We are talking to Freddie Roach because our relationship with Freddie Roach isn't over. He is training Miguel Cotto and will train [Manny] Pacquiao [for his fight against Brandon Rios], so logically I will not bring him to Las Vegas."

Although Chavez has maintained that Roach won't be in his corner for the Vera fight, neither side confirmed that they had permanently parted ways. Chavez also had recently announced that his father, six-time world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., would be in charge of his corner for the Vera fight.

Chavez, whose father will also be an official member of his team for the first time, said Roach will return to his corner full time for his next fight. The fighter was criticized by Roach after his loss to Sergio Martinez in September 2012 for not giving his best effort during training camp. He lost his middleweight title on a unanimous decision and was later suspended after testing positive for marijuana.

Roach's return won't mean that Chavez Sr. will stop helping and coaching his son during fights, according to Chavez Jr. But now he will be advising in an official capacity and not from ringside.

"For the next fight, I'm going to work full time with [Roach]," Chavez Jr. said. "Hopefully, Freddie, Vladimir and my father will be in the corner. Let's hope that in this fight [against Vera], Freddie can be in my corner."

LOS ANGELES -- As he gets ready to return to the ring, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. says he is a more mature man after learning a few lessons along the way.

Chavez Jr. admitted his defeat against Sergio Martinez was a wake-up call.

"I learned to take better care of myself, physically and mentally," said Chavez Jr. "I took too many fights for someone like me that needs to drop all the way down to 160 pounds by dieting and making a lot of sacrifices. Doing it four times in a year really took a toll on me. It hurt me and I wasn't in prime condition against Martinez. I learned to space out my fights, cut it down a little bit."

The former 160-pound titlist (46-1-1, 32 KOs) said his defeat also allowed him to go back to the basics, which once led him to the top of the middleweight class.

"Training at the proper hours [is important]," said Chavez. "Having all kind of weight issues took a mental toll on me, and that led me to train after hours. I didn't feel like doing things, I was weak. A lot of things happened, but I learned my lessons."

That's why Chavez Jr. said his Sept. 28 fight against Texan Brian Vera (23-6, 14 KOs) at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., marks the beginning of Stage 2 of his pro career.

"The first [stage] brought a lot of learning along the way," said Chavez. "After a year away, I'm back inside a ring against an opponent that might be low-profile, but he is also really dangerous since he is in his prime."

For the fight with Vera, Chavez will have Vladimir Baldenebro as the lead man in his corner.

"It's not really a change of trainers because Vladimir has been with me for nine years," Chavez said. "Freddie Roach was the most famous name in my corner, but Vladimir has always been there. He got the call to be the leading man since Freddie is currently busy training both Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto."

Chavez also said that he and Roach will work together again after the Vera fight and that there are no issues between the two of them.

"We've talked for like 20 minutes about boxing. We were cool, and Freddie said that all the after-hours training happened only for the Martinez fight," said Chavez, referring to what was aired on HBO's "24/7" reality series.

For the upcoming fight, Baldenebro focused on bringing back key elements that made Chavez successful that were not used against Martinez, such as the left-handed hook and more punching power.

"We are doing things my style," said Chavez. "Freddie gave me more explosiveness, but the working atmosphere with Vladimir is more like family, and we know what to do by just looking into each other's eyes."

Chavez will also have his father, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., as a member of his team, performing a more active role in his corner.

"It will be better, because he will no longer be yelling stuff at the top of his lungs from a distance, he will be able to say those things closer and using a softer tone," Chavez Jr. said of his Hall of Fame father. "Honestly, it was the right decision because his habits were a bit distracting for us. It was not good at all."

Chavez hasn't fought since last September, although he believes being away from the ring for that long will not eventually backfire against him.

"Let’s hope it doesn't since I still have a long life left in boxing," Chavez said. "We'll see what happens, but I feel in great shape."

He also said he will remain in the middleweight division only to face specific opponents.

"I will go down to 160 if there are good fights on the table, like the rematch against Martinez, or a clash against Gennady Golovkin," Chavez said. "Otherwise, I will fight at 168, against Sakio Bika or Andre Ward. Those fights are really appealing, but first we must take care of Vera."

Canelo Alvarez suffered the first defeat of his career last Saturday against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a clinical performance that will likely be remembered as one of the unbeaten pound-for-pound king's most dominant victories.

But through the eyes of an expert like Hall of Fame trainer Nacho Beristain, Alvarez committed a series of crucial mistakes that helped take him out of the fight from the very beginning.

From Alvarez coming in without suitable preparation to his lack of control against an opponent who dominated him in every aspect from start to finish, Beristain identified five keys that ultimately led to the 23-year-old's demise.

1. He entered the ring with no clear strategy

"When Mayweather came out of the corner to attack rather than wait on the punches, that was when [Alvarez's] strategy ended and there was no definite plan. Canelo was quickly frustrated and from the time when [Mayweather's punches] came at him right on target, he already didn't know what to do. [Mayweather] broke the attack strategy with his combination of left-right hooks and [Alvarez] couldn't adapt."

2. Lack of defense

"Given a minimally effective offense, perhaps it would have been good to show some defense to see if that way he could wait for a mistake by Mayweather and use it as has happened with other fighters. But because he was getting hammered from all sides, the fighter doesn't know what to do, he loses hope and everything becomes a madhouse."

3. No control in the corner

"In that group, there's no control. It's not like throwing more gasoline on the fire, but [Mayweather] ate him up. From the beginning it was thought that Mayweather's team was better and there ended up being no comparison. There [in Mayweather's corner], everybody knows their role, and here [in Alvarez's corner] they do whatever they want."

4. He failed to take risks

"Not only did we not see a change in strategy, we did not see any other kind of combination beyond what they have taught him, which is the left-right hook. Although, if [Alvarez] had gone at it in there with everything, if he had really put on the full press, maybe even he would have knocked [Mayweather] down, but we didn't know what could have happened. Because that's easy for [Mayweather], when they go looking for him, he puts you on the canvas like Ricky Hatton or Juan Manuel [Marquez]."

5. Not prepared for Mayweather

"The questions I had increased at the time, and if the opponent that you face is not like you had been told and it turns out you don't compete in defense, that you don't compete in speed, if you don't compete in effectiveness, they didn't tell you the truth. Given that [Alvarez's corner] created false hopes, that gave us this as a result. This is not about hitting the gloves and guard -- this is about seeing each factor that can change the fight for you."

Time flies, and last week’s festivities at the MGM Grand brought home a sudden realization that Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s master class on Saturday night came 10 years and one day after my first credentialed fight.

There were a fair few differences between that first fight and my latest: In 2003, my credential was red (signifying I rated only a bleacher seat) instead of ringside green, my affiliation was merely "freelance," and in the identifying photo my mouth was smiling and my hair wasn’t gray. But there were similarities, too: Both bouts were at the MGM, both involved the most popular boxer in the world at the time and both were the culmination of weeks of hype and publicity.

My memories of that first fight are as fresh as though it had been fought 10 months, rather than 10 years, ago, and the passage of time has spawned reflections on the numerous notable memories from a decade of being paid to watch fights.

So here’s a list of my top 10 (12, actually, because I kind of cheated) ringside recollections -- not necessarily the best fights (although some of them were terrific) but what, for me personally, have been my most memorable ringside experiences so far.

Shane Mosley W12 Oscar De La Hoya -- MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Sept. 13, 2003

Not exactly a ringside recollection, as I watched proceedings from the auxiliary section, but this was the first of what -- although I had no way of knowing it at the time -- would turn out to be more than a decade of professional prizefights for which I was credentialed.

From my seat in the bleachers, I thought the Golden Boy had eked out a decision in a good fight; most of those ringside, where the power of Mosley’s blows were more telling, seemed to agree with the official verdict. Personally, I most remember the thrill of experiencing my inaugural big-fight atmosphere, and the strange feeling of anticlimax on Sunday morning when it was all over.

Antonio Tarver TKO2 Roy Jones Jr. -- Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, May 15, 2004
The defining moment of postfight shock and awe. Jones had looked mortal in the first encounter between the two men, but that had widely been attributed to his struggles returning to 175 pounds after his brief and successful excursion to heavyweight. But Tarver had his number, and when he landed the big punch that marked the end of Jones’ era of dominance, the crowd responded with an initial roar, followed by a stunned silence, culminating in 12,000 people reaching simultaneously for their cellphones to tell friends, “Holy ****, Roy Jones just got knocked out!”

Diego Corrales TK10 Jose Luis Castillo -- Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, May 7, 2005

Even if this fight had been a dud, it would for me have been memorable: The previous night, the Boxing Writers Association of America's annual dinner had concluded with one of the finest gatherings of past and present champions to stand on one stage; and Gordon Absher, then the Mandalay Bay’s PR guru, had indulged my literary bent by seating me next to the great Budd Schulberg on fight night. Seriously, how could it possibly get any better? Then Corrales and Castillo started throwing punches, and the 4,000 or so souls in the arena became bound together in witnessing one of the very greatest professional prizefights ever -- a fight that effectively ruined both the combatants while leaving an indelible memory on everyone fortunate enough to be there.

Manny Pacquiao TK10 Erik Morales -- Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Jan. 21, 2006
Manny Pacquiao KO3 Erik Morales -- Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nov. 18, 2006

For reasons I can’t quite remember, but presumably related to a lack of money, I watched the first tilt between these two on TV in my cabin in Alaska. The indelible memory of their second contest, apart from Pacquiao turning around a fight he was losing and storming to a stoppage win, was the unrelenting volume inside the arena, as rival Mexican and Filipino fight fans shouted themselves hoarse. I imagined it was like sticking your head next to a jet engine. The third was much the same, and at the end of that contest the feeling was of one man reaching the end of his career and another about to launch his into the stratosphere.

Floyd Mayweather TKO10 Ricky Hatton -- MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Dec. 8, 2007

Ah, the Brits. My people. So very many of them, so very drunk, and singing so very loudly. For a week, Las Vegas became Manchester with better weather and colder beer, as Hatton’s fans sang constantly to remind themselves how many Ricky Hattons there are; and even when that one Ricky Hatton was stopped in the 10th round, they sang and drank some more.

Antonio Margarito TKO11 Miguel Cotto -- MGM Grand, Las Vegas, July 26, 2008
Miguel Cotto TKO10 Antonio Margarito -- Madison Square Garden, New York, Dec. 3, 2011

During the buildup to the first fight, I was convinced that Cotto was on the verge of breaking through to the next level, to the very top echelons of pound-for-pound lists. And for much of the early going, the Puerto Rican appeared vastly superior to his opponent in every way, until Margarito ground him down and stopped him in what became a truly violent brawl. The suspicions that emerged afterward, following Margarito’s suspension for alleged handwrap tampering, led to a febrile atmosphere in New York three years later. The fact that Margarito was essentially a one-eyed man being served up for punishment concerned the Puerto Ricans in the arena not one bit, and the guttural roar when Cotto glared at his beaten foe segued into dancing on Seventh Avenue afterward.

Manny Pacquiao W12 Joshua Clottey -- Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas, March 13, 2010

The fight itself was kinda meh. Clottey spent most of his time impersonating a turtle as Pacquiao bang-bang-banged away. But there was a real sense of occasion about it all: Jerry Jones, Cowboys Stadium, that scoreboard … One can only wonder how immense it all would have been had the man across the ring been, as originally intended, not Joshua Clottey but Floyd Mayweather.

Lamont Peterson W12 Amir Khan -- Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2011.

For all but seven of the nearly 20 years I’ve been in the United States, I’ve lived in the District of Columbia or its northern Virginia suburbs, so to have an HBO fight in what is effectively my hometown, and with a hometown fighter -- a hometown fighter who had grown up sleeping on the streets near the arena where he was now fighting, even –- scoring an upset win over a big star, with a fevered crowd screaming “D.C., D.C., D.C.” … it was all very cool, even if a pair of point deductions by an over-officious referee (to say nothing of the later revelations of Peterson’s synthetic testosterone intake) fouled the punch bowl.

Juan Manuel Marquez KO6 Manny Pacquiao -- MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Dec. 8, 2012

If much of the world greeted the buildup to their fourth encounter with a comparative shrug, the predominantly Mexican crowd viewed it with eager anticipation, desperate for Marquez to finally secure the official victory they felt he had three times been unjustly denied. It did not matter to them that Marquez entered the ring looking like the Incredible Hulk; they wanted a win, and when it came -– with Pacquiao dropping face-first like a stone -- the tide of emotion that crashed through the arena was a mixture of delirious joy and inconsolable grief, with the fevered wailing of a distraught Jinkee Pacquiao a powerful reminder of the realities of what is at stake when two men enter the ring.

Floyd Mayweather W12 Canelo Alvarez -- MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Sept. 14, 2013

From the massive throng that spilled out of the MGM Grand lobby to watch the fighters’ arrivals on Tuesday, to the crowd that stood three-deep to catch a glimpse of even the undercard fighters working out the next day, to the incomparable weigh-in experience in front of 12,200 fans -- and, of course, the enthusiastic but ultimately futile cries of “si se puede” and “Ca-ne-lo” during the main event -- this was, from beginning to end, almost certainly the most intense big fight week I’ve yet experienced.

Note to the “this was boxing’s last big fight” crowd: At the time of my first fight, nobody would have predicted that in 10 years’ time, Mayweather Jr. would be the man carrying the sport on his back, as De La Hoya did before him, as Mike Tyson did before him. Someone out there is boxing’s next big superstar. He may already be on HBO, he may be fighting undercard six-rounders, he may not yet have turned pro. But when he hits the highest heights, his biggest fights will be true events, just as much as Mayweather’s are now. And if I’m fortunate, I’ll be there covering them.

The future of Canelo Alvarez might have a few more options compared to what might be in store for Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Golden Boy Promotions could have the right recipe to help Alvarez make a huge comeback with a competitive fight.

While the buzz about Mayweather's next challenge included facing Amir Khan at London's Wembley Stadium or Danny Garcia in Las Vegas, the options for Alvarez are quite interesting, including the possibility of pursuing another world title.

Alfredo Angulo, Erislandy Lara and Carlos Molina -- who became a junior middleweight titlist on Saturday after defeating Ishe Smith -- are at the top of Golden Boy's list to become Alvarez's next opponent in 2014.

Molina is the only one of the three candidates who is not promoted by Golden Boy, but a title defense against Alvarez is viable. Despite recently losing to Lara, the crowd-pleasing Angulo (22-3, 18 KOs) still belongs to the elite group at 154 pounds. He is a bit slower than Alvarez, but has more punching power, so it could be quite a competitive challenge for both fighters.

Lara (18-1-2, 12 KOs) got off the canvas twice to defeat Angulo in June, after Angulo could not continue after suffering an eye injury in the 10th round, but left a few doubts. The interim junior middleweight titlist from Cuba is an effective and elusive fighter.

Molina (22-5-2, 6 KOs) is not exactly a powerful puncher, but he can be a nightmare inside the ring. According to Mayweather, Molina would be a nice fit for Alvarez to show his boxing skills, something he wasn't able to do Saturday.

Victor Ortiz (29-4-2, 22 KOs) also might be another option, despite being out of action for more than a year. Ortiz was next-in-line to fight Alvarez last September, but a broken jaw suffered in a clash against Josesito Lopez in June 2012 scratched those plans.

Former junior middleweight titlists Cornelius Bundrage and Cory Spinks are also possible opponents who, despite their recent slumps, could generate an attractive fight for Showtime.

The Alvarez camp also may wait for the winner of the Miguel Cotto-Delvin Rodriguez bout, set for Oct. 5 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., due to Cotto's status as a promotional free agent.

LAS VEGAS -- Canelo Alvarez was the right opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jr.

When trying to pinpoint what made this weekend the most successful in boxing since 2007, it might be as simple as that. Even before the fight started, it felt as though Alvarez had succeeded where many others failed, simply by convincing a certain portion of boxing fans that he had a chance.

Juan Manuel Marquez was, after all, far too small. Shane Mosley was too old. Miguel Cotto, thanks to losses against Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito, too beat up.

With Alvarez, though, the worst thing anyone could really say about him was that he was too young, which is hardly a terrible thing. True, he never possessed the boxing talent to really give Mayweather a run on Saturday, but he was intriguing nevertheless. Betting odds on Alvarez were the shortest on a Mayweather opponent in six years.

Now that Mayweather (45-0, 26 KOs) has so brilliantly and effortlessly turned Alvarez into win No. 45, the question to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer becomes: Who is the next right opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jr.?

"At this point, it almost doesn't seem to matter," Schaefer said. "You could probably put the [heavyweight champion] Klitschko brothers in front of him and he would beat them too.

"I'm going to have to sit down with Floyd and his team. Whether it's going to be someone at 147, 154 or -- who knows? -- even 160 [pounds], we'll have to see what's out there and put together a big fight again."

The clear favorite to face Mayweather next, as of Saturday, is fellow Golden Boy Promotions fighter Danny Garcia, who picked a fight with a violent attack dog in Lucas Matthysse and surfaced with his unbeaten record still intact.

The unified 140-pound titleholder, Garcia (27-0, 16 KO) was once described on a fight broadcast as "not great at anything, but good at everything." That description rang true again Saturday, as he navigated his way through the difficult 12-round decision victory over arguably the biggest puncher in the division.

Garcia won't provoke the same amount of confidence in casual fans the way a Mayweather fight with Alvarez did, but his reputation as an unheralded, consistently underrated champion is as good a storyline as any for a Mayweather opponent.

Additionally, Garcia was refreshingly honest when asked of a potential Mayweather fight on Saturday, as opposed to being obnoxiously adamant about it, as most fighters would be in his position. His accomplishments speak for him.

"You know, I really don't know," Garcia said when asked about a potential fight with Mayweather next May. "At the end of the day, I'm just a fighter. I come to fight with heart and I give the fans what they want. If Golden Boy and [adviser] Al Haymon want it, I'll do it. It is what it is."

Another option would be the winner of a Dec. 7 welterweight title bout between Amir Khan and Devon Alexander. Neither of them would particularly instill confidence in the general public either, in terms of giving Mayweather a legitimate foe.

Khan (28-3, 19 KOs), who at one point stood very much poised to become boxing's next biggest star, seems like a fragile option. A bout with Khan would likely build more anticipation for Mayweather's first knockout victory in two years than it would a real threat to his undefeated record.

Fact is, despite being heavily criticized for handpicking opponents, Mayweather has reached a level at which, as Schaefer correctly points out, it doesn't seem to matter much who you put in front of him. In any case, the outcome is easily predictable.

With four fights remaining on the six-fight, 30-month deal Mayweather signed with Showtime and CBS this year, it's likely that Mayweather will face Garcia next May, probably at welterweight, and possibly Khan or Alexander in September.

Should he get through 2014 as easily as 2013, the hope will be that fans, media, history, Showtime and a general lack of opponents will force him into the type of challenge that many thought Alvarez was ready to provide -- whether that winds up being a fight against his protégé, Adrien Broner, finally negotiating a bout with Manny Pacquiao or a legitimate move up to 160 pounds.

LAS VEGAS -- The idea has begun to take hold that Saturday's Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Canelo Alvarez clash at the MGM Grand Garden Arena could be boxing's best in years. The expectations for the bout confirm it: Records already have been broken for live-gate revenue and closed-circuit sales, and it's hoped that the pay-per-view bount for the card will exceed, or at least approach, the total that Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya set six years ago in their blockbuster, also staged at the MGM Grand.

And if you think about it, the Mayweather-Alvarez main event would seem to check every box that we would want in a prizegfight: a confrontation between skilled, popular and undefeated representatives of the sport, fighters who together span cultures and generations.

Mayweather and Alvarez are the yin and yang of boxing. The former has speed, exceptional defensive gifts and ring intelligence that has gone unmatched in the past quarter century, and he has been the standard bearer for American boxers for at least a decade. The latter is young, strong and precocious, having demonstrated his popularity in drawing almost 40 thousand people to San Antonio's Alamodome and specifically connecting with his Mexican countrymen.

And the matching of these fighters, although compelling, is actually trumped by the stakes: Either Mayweather or Canelo is going to lose his unbeaten status on Saturday night. Pondering how that will happen is an interesting enough thought, but take it a step further and imagine how this will affect not only the future of both fighters, but also of boxing itself.

Floyd has the chance to reach the magical mark of 50-0, which would not only surpass the touchstone career record of the legendary Rocco Francis Marchegiano (better known as Rocky Marciano), but would also funnel more millions into his considerable bank account.

Is "Money" going for broke in this fight? If he recognizes any risk in Alvarez, it's also true that he knows -- and, more importantly, knew when it came time to decide on an opponent -- he is the favorite, regardless of any age or weight disadvantages. But the fact remains: The public sees a risk, and in that sense, Mayweather is giving fight fans what they want.

Canelo, for his part, has a chance to begin a new era. His popularity has grown by leaps and bounds in the shortest of spans, and he is convinced that he has what it takes to become the new face of boxing -- a title that he would instantly take on if he were able to upset the reigning P4P and PPV champ.

Speaking of, Canelo is headlining his first PPV event, one that will reach nearly two million homes -- an extraordinary figure that he stands to gain greatly from, even in a loss. In that sense, this fight is enormous -- and, yes, perhaps the biggest in a decade. The exploits of Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez last year were nothing to scoff at, but considering what hinges on this fight -- one star adding another win to his record and the other adding a "1" to the other side of the ledger -- the hype of "The One" figures to hold up over time.

For everything Floyd Mayweather Jr. has accomplished as both a fighter and a businessman, one might always wonder about what his legacy could have been.

Few, of course, question his abilities in the ring and his status as an all-time great. But since becoming the face of the sport, Mayweather’s control over his own matchmaking has made it difficult to compare him to past legends.

The gripe about Mayweather’s selection of opponents, specifically above 135 pounds, slowly loses steam the more often “Money” takes on dangerous opponents who many previously claimed he would avoid. The perfect illustration is Saturday’s junior middleweight title unification bout against fellow unbeaten Canelo Alvarez.

But the gripe is still there – not out of spite for Mayweather or out of doubt about his special talent in the ring. The timing of certain Mayweather opponents and the avoidance of others has made it problematic because the calling card of other all-time greats has been a deep-rooted desire to test themselves against the best -- that whole dare-to-be-great mentality.


So as we enter the stretch run of Mayweather’s equally marketable and remarkable path toward perfection, there remains a haunting feeling about whether the fighter left a little bit too much of his potential greatness on the table.

Most will point, almost involuntarily, to the Manny Pacquiao-sized hole on his resume. It’s frustrating when you consider how rare it is in history for the sport’s top two pound-for-pound fighters to find themselves in the same division. And it’s doubly frustrating when you consider the damage done to the sport when the fight, with unrivaled potential for breaking records financially, failed to come off during a three-year window of prime viability.

To a smaller degree, Mayweather never faced Kostya Tszyu, the recognized 140-pound champion at the time, after moving up to junior welterweight.

But the biggest void may be the timing of Mayweather’s absences from the ring during his prime at welterweight, when the division was loaded with difficult opponents. Mayweather, of course, stepped away from the ring with multiple retirements following his star-making 2007 victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.

After building his brand further with crossover appearances on “Dancing With The Stars” and even in the main event of “Wrestlemania,” Mayweather fought just two times over a stretch of nearly four years between the Hatton fight and his 2011 return against Victor Ortiz.


One could argue the time away from the ring kept Mayweather fresh physically, allowing him to stay closer to peak condition today at age 36. But you also have to wonder what would have happened if Mayweather had remained active during that 45-month window, when he fought just twice -- against an undersized Juan Manuel Marquez and a 38-year-old version of Shane Mosley, who was 16 months removed from his career-saving TKO of Antonio Margarito.

Had Mayweather fought and won five more times during that stretch, consistently fighting two times per year, how would we view him historically if he were entering the Alvarez fight on the verge of 50-0?

More importantly, had he cleared out the division with victories against an unbeaten Miguel Cotto, Margarito, Andre Berto, Paul Williams and, yes, Pacquiao, would Saturday’s fight be the biggest in history? Would a victory have vaulted Mayweather into the top five in history, pound-for-pound?

Such a grind could have led him closer to his first defeat. But the truth is, Mayweather likely would have won all of those fights, and things could have been different today had he maxed out his potential just a little bit more.

An alternate reality in which Mayweather is universally beloved and adored probably couldn’t exist because he doesn’t seem to care much about being liked. Instead, he appears to thrive off playing the villain and managing his career on his own terms. That might be a more fitting legacy than even his pursuit of perfection.

But when you watch Mayweather perform on the highest level, as he hopes to do again Saturday, it always leaves you wondering a bit of what might have been, even if it is splitting hairs.

After Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s victory over Robert Guerrero in May, fans were treated to an updated version of a quote that has become a Mayweather staple: "Forty-four have tried and 44 have failed." Although that number should technically be amended to 43 (Mayweather fought Jose Luis Castillo twice), it's all academic for Canelo Alvarez, who on Saturday will try to avoid becoming the next number on Money's ledger.

Earlier in the week, our Stats & Information Group gave you several important fight factors for Mayweather, including experience, speed and defense. But there's one more element to be taken into account: the venue. Since a unanimous decision win over Gregorio Vargas in 2000, Mayweather has compiled a 10-0 record -- and fought all of his past seven fights -- on the grounds of Las Vegas's MGM Grand (including the Garden Arena). Canelo has fought there on three occasions, but Las Vegas is Mayweather's adopted hometown and the MGM Grand is his home court, despite numerous opponents having had the crowd in their favor.

Mayweather's greatest triumph at the MGM Grand came in 2007 when he fought Oscar De La Hoya for a junior middleweight belt -- the same title, in fact, that he will be fighting for on Saturday. In that fight, De La Hoya threw 106 more punches and 100 more power punches, but it was Mayweather who was the more accurate fighter. According to Compubox, Mayweather landed 43 percent of his punches (compared to De La Hoya's 21 percent), while also landing 57 percent of his power punches. The officials scored it 116-112, 115-113 Mayweather, 113-115 De La Hoya in what many consider to be Mayweather's toughest victory. Attendance for the fight was listed at 16,200 (15,432 paid). The live gate of $18.4 million remains the largest in boxing history.

Mayweather vacated the junior middleweight title to defend his welterweight title against England's undefeated Ricky Hatton later in the year. Mayweather overcame a large, raucous contingent of U.K. fans in the crowd and, in the early rounds of the fight, a very aggressive Hatton. Mayweather adjusted, landing 39 percent of both his power and total punches, according to Compubox, compared to just 17 for Hatton. Mayweather hit Hatton with a left hook in the 10th round that put the challenger on his back, and when Hatton tried to regain his composure and the fight resumed, Mayweather attacked and knocked him down again, prompting a TKO stoppage from referee Joe Cortez. Despite the pro-Hatton crowd of 16,459 (15,488 paid), Mayweather improved to 5-0 at the MGM Grand. The live gate came in at $10.3 million.

With no titles upon his return in 2009 from a nearly two-year retirement, Mayweather defeated Juan Manuel Marquez ($6.8 million live gate) in front of 12,009 paid fans to go 8-0 against Mexican fighters. He would then defeat Shane Mosley ($11 million live gate) before winning back his welterweight title from Victor Ortiz ($9 million live gate) in September 2011.

Miguel Cotto was next, the prize being a junior middleweight title. Before a crowd of 16,047 (14,612 paid), Mayweather landed his lowest percentage of punches (26 percent) that Compubox has tracked in any of his fights, while Cotto landed 21 percent. Mayweather outlanded Cotto in 11 of 12 rounds and held a 179-105 advantage on punches connected en route to a unanimous decision, 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111. The live gate for the fight was $12 million, ninth-largest in history.

Mayweather defended his welterweight title against Guerrero in May ($9.9 million live gate), and on Saturday he will face Canelo Alvarez in a fight that has sold out the approximately 16,800-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena, with a rumored 65 percent of those sales coming from the Mexican public. According to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, the live gate for Mayweather-Canelo will surpass $20 million, which would be an all-time high in the state of Nevada.

-- Attendance and live gate numbers courtesy of Nevada State Athletic Commission
-- Statistical data provided by Compubox