When Floyd Mayweather Jr. said “The Earth is my turf” to a crowd of thousands in Manhattan to kick off an 11 city promotional tour, no one could argue with him. Mayweather (44 - 0 with 26 KOs) has yet to taste defeat as a professional fighter and his dismantling of Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero on May 4th hushed any idea that Floyd was slowing down. Interestingly, due to his pay-per-view deal with Showtime, Mayweather will be back in the ring quickly (quickly for him anyway) to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on September 14th in Las Vegas. It’s seen as a fight of the year candidate and no doubt should have major fireworks.

Mayweather has been one of the ‘pound for pound’ best fighters in the world for perhaps as long as Alvarez has been a professional fighter. With his unnatural combination of speed and power, utilized with a defensive style that allows him to take limited punishment, Mayweather has rarely been challenged in his long career. Nobody defends as well as Floyd Mayweather Jr. His shoulder-rolled style of defending frustrates opponents and it positions his counter attack viciously. His footwork is outstanding — he is rarely off balance and always in position to take advantage of a mistake. The Mayweather mythology helps as well. Many boxers are already beaten before they enter the ring against Floyd, knowing that his speed will mean they’re getting hit early and often. A boxer needs to like getting hit to have a chance again Mayweather…which oddly enough Canelo Alvarez does.

Saul Alvarez (42 - 0 - 1 with 30 KOs) is a tank. He’s big, strong, and has punching power that causes damage with every connection. Alvarez is the type of fighter that will take punishment to give it. He has no concern about walking through punches to get to his opponent. He will pursue his foe and will keep coming regardless of what has hit him. Coming off of a decision, title win in a war against Austin Trout, Alvarez could be the opponent who finally gives Mayweather trouble. He is younger, bigger, and stronger than anyone Floyd has faced. Even though Alvarez is young, only 22 years old to Mayweather who is 37, he is uniquely experienced, with many rounds of work in Mexico prior to turning pro at 20. There is no question that Mayweather is going to hit Alvarez, but will Alvarez thrive in that pain and inflict damage on Floyd?

As each long, hot, day of summer beats down, boxing fans longingly look to September for the type of fight that unveils all that makes the sport of boxing truly fascinating.