Inside a wild weekend with Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford - ESPN

THE RAIN FEELS like needle pricks pelting down on umbrellas and faces on Sunday morning in New York City. And yet, Canelo Alvarez is wearing sunglasses.

He's on the second leg of a three-leg tour to promote his upcoming Sept. 13 mega-fight against Terence Crawford. Most of the assembled media underneath the Javits Center is either shaking out or saying goodbye to their umbrellas — raindrops over New York City on an 80-plus degree day in June always seem to have a little extra mustard on them.

But Alvarez is dry and gleaming. Earlier that morning, he had purchased a shiny new, special-edition Jacob & Co. watch for a little under $500,000, paid for on his no-max credit card. Maybe that's why he needs the sunglasses.

«Almost a half million,» he clarifies. But he has a big, wide smile when he says that. He's proud of his purchase.

He plows through roughly 30 minutes of a steady string of interviewers introducing themselves and then turning on a camera in his face. So, the sunglasses start to feel like preventative eye health care rather than a fashion statement, boredom mask or hangover disguise. The literal glare he is under all day is an optometry nightmare.

Canelo doesn't smile often or get animated during interviews. The only time he shows some emotion is when he talks about golf (man, Canelo Alvarez loves golf). The rest of the time, he is all business hyping the fight, which, whether you realize it yet or not, is going to be a major moment in any sports fan's life come Sept. 13 on Netflix. It's the first Zuffa Boxing event, promoted by Dana White, as part of the TKO brand. And it features probably the two best, most significant fighters of the post-Mayweather era. For die-hard fans who have gray hairs or no hair at all