Welcome to the A-Side: Canelo has the perks and a lesson on how to use them

By Norm Frauenheim

Canelo Alvarez showed he learned a lot from Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a painful loss that, among other things, taught him how to use power that comes with being the so-called A-side.

It’s hard to know where talks are headed for a Canelo-Gennady Golovkin fight, the biggest on boxing’s board of possibilities. But there are signs that Canelo will make demands, including a problematic one about a 155-pound catch weight.

Why? Because he can.

If and when the respective parties get to the table, we’ll know HBO’s pay-per-view numbers from Canelo-Cotto. At midweek after the Nov. 21 bout, it was reportedly tracking at about 900,000. That’s a long way from the 1.5 million that Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya had projected. But it’s still very good.

It adds up to leverage, all on Canelo’s side of the table. In Golovkin’s only PPV venture – an Oct. 17 victory over David Lemieux, the PPV number was reported to be 150,000.

The difference between 900,000 and 150,000 adds up to 750,000 reasons for Canelo to get his way, in much the same manner that Mayweather did. Mayweather bragged about the perks and power he had. Like it or not, he used them, too.

Canelo might not brag about his newfound role on the A-side. But he’d be fool not to make full use of them.

There already have been a few preliminaries. GGG’s representative, Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, went to Canelo’s post-fight party and congratulated the World Boxing Council’s new middleweight champ Saturday after his unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay.

“Gennady thought it was great performance by Canelo,’’ said Loeffler, who said GGG was in the arena for the fight.

If GGG-Canelo were to happen in May, Golovkin, first or second in pound-for-pound ratings, would be favored. With the victory over Cotto, Canelo has climbed into the debate’s top 10, but he’s in the second five.

It’s a sign, perhaps, that the 25-year-old Mexican, who won the WBC’s 160-pound title at a 155-pound catch weight, still needs more experience at middleweight.

Truth is, he has yet to face a real middleweight with first-class skill. Cotto has the skills, but he’s never been a middleweight, despite the WBC title stripped from him because he didn’t pay the sanctioning fee.

At 153.5 pounds, Cotto was half-a-pound under the junior-middleweight limit at the weigh-in. At opening bell, his trainer, Freddie Roach, said he was at 159, one pound under the middleweight limit.

As it should, GGG’s corner argues that Canelo is more of a light-heavyweight than a middleweight at fight time. He was at 170 to 175 pounds against Cotto, says GGG trainer Abel Sanchez. That’s a guesstimate, because declined at step on HBO’s scale the night of the fight. But it’s reasonable.

For now, however, the 155 mark on the day before the bout is a sure sign that Canelo is ready. Rafael Mendoza, his former advisor and manager, said that if he is a pound or two lighter, it’s a sign he weakened himself in a battle to make weight.

A pound or two heavier than 155 pounds, and he figures to be sluggish, according to Mendoza, a Hall of Famer. Canelo doesn’t have foot speed anyway. If he hits the 155 mark, however, it’s a sign that he’s in shape to move his upper body and head throughout 12 rounds. He did that, effectively and consistently against Cotto.

In the immediate aftermath of his victory of over Cotto, Canelo said he’s willing to fight GGG, yet he sidestepped the question about a 155-pound catch weight. He might have been waiting to hear the pay-per-view. That’s when he’ll really know how much power he has as boxing’s new A-sider.