By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Other than a huge purse, Canelo Alvarez didn’t take much away from his easy victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

A confident, aggressive Alvarez dominated the son of Mexico’s most accomplished boxer, but Chavez’s unwillingness to engage disappointed Alvarez when they met May 6 in Las Vegas. Alvarez anticipated much more from his Mexican rival in their 12-round fight at T-Mobile Arena, especially since it was so meaningful among millions of prideful people in their homeland.

The 26-year-old Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) moved up to a career-high catch weight of 164½ pounds to face Chavez (50-3-1, 32 KOs, 1 NC), yet won every round on all three scorecards (120-108, 120-108, 120-108). Chavez complained after his lopsided loss that making a lower weight than he had been required to make in recent years depleted him and affected his performance.

Alvarez dismissed Chavez’s excuse Tuesday night. He also questioned the former WBC middleweight champion’s heart prior to a press conference in The Theater at Madison Square Garden to promote his September 16 showdown with Kazakh knockout artist Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs).

“Very little,” Alvarez said through a translator of what he took from the Chavez fight. “I guess the most important thing, if I had to take one thing, I learned that in this sport you have to have balls. Because if you don’t have balls, what happened to Chavez is gonna repeat itself.”

Based on how much faster, fresher and even stronger he was than the taller, heavier Chavez, Alvarez realizes why Chavez offered so little resistance last month.

“He did nothing to try to win the fight,” Alvarez said. “He wasn’t trying to win the fight. He was trying to survive. But I understand him. I can understand. Because when you throw one punch and five other punches come back at you, I understand him. But that’s why I said a little earlier, to be in this sport and to be a champion, you have to have balls.”

The four-day, three-city press tour for the Alvarez-Golovkin middleweight title fight (HBO Pay-Per-View) will continue Thursday in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles press conference will take place at AVALON Hollywood (1735 Vine Street) and is open to the public. Fans can begin arriving at 4:30 p.m. PT, the “Red Carpet” opens at 5 p.m. and the screening of the new, Golden Boy Promotions-produced short film, “I Am Boxing,” narrated by Ice Cube, will begin at 8 p.m.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.