Floyd Mayweather-Saul Alvarez both sure of victory on September 14
Floyd Mayweather (44-0) and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (42-0-1) stared each other down for nearly a minute and cheers from the fans packed into Times Square grew louder by the second.
This is a matchup they've been waiting to see: Four belts, two undefeated fan favourites - and a title fight simply billed as "The One."
The unbeaten pair came face-to-face in New York at the start of an 11-city tour to promote their September 14 152lbs catchweight contest in Las Vegas.
And Mayweather was quick to shoot down his younger rivals claim that the time is right for a shift in power at the top of the sport.
"The earth is my turf," Mayweather said. "You can put me in any ring and I will come out victorious. When your the best you only want to test yourself against the best and that's what the fans wanted to see."
Mayweather added "If you look at the opponents he's faced and the ones I've faced the big difference is experience, but he's done something right to get to this point so he's a guy I can't overlook."
The five-time world champion is 14 years older than 22-year-old Alvarez, who beat Austin Trout in April to add the WBA light middleweight belt to his WBC title and is widely expected to give Mayweather a tough physical test.
"In the sport of boxing, it's everybody's time and this is my time," Alvarez said. "I visualised this fight for years and I feel I'm going to win."