“He would NEVER beat me” – Canelo Alvarez claims he beat P4P GOAT rival Floyd Mayweather in his prime

CANELO ALVAREZ has claimed he would have beaten Floyd Mayweather had he faced him in his prime.

The 32-year-old Mexican competed against five-weight world champion Mayweather in 2013 at the age of just 23.

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And he was comprehensively boxed out in Las Vegas when Mayweather, then 36, won a decision victory.

Since then, Canelo has won world titles in four different weight classes.

Before losing to Dmitry Bivol in May – his first loss since meeting Mayweather nine years ago – he was widely regarded as the pound-for-pound No. 1.

And Alvarez believes he would have defeated the American had he been the more rounded, experienced pro he is now.

Speaking to GQ Sports, he said: “I think it’s hard to say because that’s never going to happen [facing Mayweather again].

“But I’m sure he would never beat me in my prime.”

Canelo is preparing to bounce back from the light heavyweight loss to Bivol when he drops to the super middleweight division for a third time on Saturday night to face Gennady Golovkin.

The pair fought to a controversial tie in 2017 – a clash many believed Golovkin had won.

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The following year, the two then met again in a rematch, with Canelo making a decision.

Four years later, the legendary duo will complete a trilogy this weekend in Vegas.

And Alvarez is adamant in his prediction that he will knock out Golovkin.

After years of bad blood, Canelo said: “I just want to punish him really hard. He pretends to be a nice person, but he’s not.

“He talks a lot of shit about me and I don’t like that. He’s a great fighter, but as a person? I do not think so.

“It’s one of the biggest fights of my life because of the rivalry and that third fight will be the most important.

“The rivalry goes back years and I love that it’s personal. It makes me train like crazy.

“I listen to what he says, but at the end of the day he just makes excuses. I listen but don’t take it to heart.

“What I don’t like is when it comes to speaking in person, he lies. I know I won both fights, I don’t have to prove anything.”