Sunday’s fight between Miguel Cotto (40-4-0) and Saul
‘Canelo’ Alvarez (47-1-1) is what boxing is all about.
Two of the best fighters in the world clashing in a fight mostly
devoid of the usual politics that comes along with the sport.
Boxing generally has a habit of getting in its own way and
we saw an example of that this week, with Cotto stripped of the WBC
Middleweight Title for failing to pay $300,000 in sanctioning fees.
Canelo can still claim the title should he win the fight,
but the lack of the WBC strap doesn’t take the shine off this fight whatsoever.
With the Mayweather-Pacquiao sideshow almost gone, Cotto and
Canelo have stepped up in their absence.
The only fight in boxing today that is bigger is probably
Gennady Golovkin against the winner, that’s if Cotto and Canelo actually have
interest in fighting him.
Had you sold me a Cotto-Alvarez fight three years ago, it
would have looked very different.
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez was the next king of boxing, whilst
Miguel Cotto was slowly losing the race against father time, seemingly destined
to embark on a career trajectory similar to Mosley, Maragrito and Co.
But strangely in the last two years, the tables have turned.
Miguel Cotto has sparked new life into his career, in a new
division, whilst Canelo has still yet to really show he is capable of carrying
boxing’s crown, with the doubters growing all the time.
It all looked so promising for Canelo. As a 23-year-old he was
undefeated in 44 career fights, and landed the biggest prize in the game, a
shot at Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.
The Mayweather fight came a little too soon for Canelo. He was
fed to the wolves in a way.
Mayweather was running out of options to fight and Canelo
was next in line. Golden Boy (Canelo’s promotional company) accepted the risk,
knowing that if Canelo did pull off a victory, well they’d have the goose with
the golden egg.
But of course we now know that Canelo wasn’t good enough to
beat Mayweather and in fact the fight showed he probably wasn’t ready for it
either.
The fight left you feeling that Canelo was still morphing
from potential star to superstar and left you thinking, ‘what a fighter he’ll
be in a few years time’.
But here we are now a few years down the line and in my
opinion Canelo still hasn’t become that fighter, yet. There’s no denying he is
a star, but he’s yet to become the star he was touted to be.
His fight with Miguel Cotto could be that coming out party,
and there’s big pressure on the Mexican
fighter to ensure it is.
Canelo has had 47 fights, but he doesn’t fight like someone
with that many rounds under his belt. Looking at his record, he’s only really
had a few high profile fights. Cotto on the other hand has toiled at the elite
level for years.
Canelo fought Shane Mosley back in 2012, when it is safe
to say Mosley had seen better days. Austin Trout was an up and comer, but
Canelo showed he was in a different class. The loss to Mayweather followed, and
since then it’s been a rebuild of the Alvarez brand.
Sure, Erislandy Lara and James Kirkland are no pushovers,
but they are not Miguel Cotto.
Cotto on the other hand has been in the ring with everyone.
Mosley, Margarito, Pacquiao, Mayorga, Mayweather, Trout and Martinez .
It is this experience that his trainer Freddie Roach says
will be the difference, and I tend to agree.
Cotto has been in wars. He’s had to dig deep and find
something within himself in the championship rounds. We can’t yet say the same
for Canelo.
Of Cotto’s four career losses, two have been to Floyd
Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, the third was to Antonio Margarito, who was
later found to be using loaded gloves.
The loss to Austin Trout was a major shock and led to Cotto
linking with Roach at the Wildcard Gym. That
decision has revived the Puerto Rican fighter.
This most recent incarnation of Cotto is some fighter.
Moving up a division* has reinvigorated the 35-year-old.
He is back to his destructive best, with three stoppage wins
in his last three fights.
Some will punch holes in those fights. Delvin Rodriguez and
Daniel Geale aren’t elite level fighters, whilst Sergio Martinez was not as his
best, with injury playing his part.
But Cotto can only beat what’s in front of him and he has
done so in devastating fashion.
Freddie Roach’s training has seen Cotto resemble the killer
of the late 2000’s with the famed punching power back.
Floyd Mayweather came out recently and said Cotto was the
only fighter to ever hurt him. If Cotto brings the intense style he has shown
in the last three fights, I don’t think Canelo can handle it.
One thing that can be guaranteed is that Cotto-Canelo will live up to the hype. Both fighters bring action, both won't die wondering.
It's must see on Sunday.
PREDICTION: I think Cotto wins. I just haven’t seen
Canelo go to that next level. Some betting companies in Australia have Cotto at $8.80 to
win via TKO, its handy odds!
Miguel Cotto v Saul
Alvarez, Sunday 1pm AEST on MAIN EVENT PPV
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