Canelo has edge against Cotto, says Trinidad

By Boxing News - 08/11/2015 - Comments

cotto563By Dan Ambrose: Boxing great Felix Trinidad is going against his fellow countryman WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) in his catch-weight fight against former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) on November 21st on HBO pay-per-view from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Trinidad likes the 34-year-old Cotto a lot, but in this case he has to pick against him due to the 24-year-old Canelo’s advantage in power and youth over the aging Puerto Rican fighter. The Cotto-Canelo fight will be held at a catch-weight of 155lbs, which works in Cotto’s favor because Canelo rehydrates to the mid-170s.

But Canelo is still young enough to where it doesn’t hurt him when he rehydrates to the mid-170s. He’s able to rehydrate up 20 pounds after he makes weight for his fights at 155 without it dramatically impacting his performances like it would for another fighter. But you can make an argument that Canelo is being negatively affected by his stubborn insistence at fighting at catch-weights at 155 rather than moving up to the full weight for the middleweight division at 160.

Canelo looked sluggish at times in each of his last three catch-weight fights at 155. Canelo would be far better going to the full weight for the middleweight division and then rehydrating up in weight 15 pounds rather than 20.

“It’s going to be a very tough fight. It’s the same thing as what I’ve said before. Canelo has an edge because of his strength and youth,” Trinidad said to Hustleboss.com.

It’s definitely a fight that you have to put in Canelo’s favor because he’s going to rehydrate up in weight a lot more than Cotto. At best, Cotto might rehydrate up to 165 after he makes weight. Cotto wasn’t weighed in for his last fight against Daniel Geale last June, but he looked like he was in the low to mid 160s in that fight. But Canelo will definitely put on a lot more weight than Cotto, and come into the fight a full light heavyweight when he gets inside the ring.

Cotto dealt with a light heavyweight/cruiserweight in his last fight when Geale rehydrated up to the 180s, but the difference is Geale didn’t have the punching power that Canelo has. Further, Geale was sluggish after having dehydrated to the 157lb catch-weight that Cotto insisted on for the fight.

Cotto and Canelo had better drink up the catch-weight while they can because they’re not going to be able to use a catch-weight for their next fight against WBC interim 160lb champion Gennady Golovkin next year. Golovkin is the mandatory challenger to the WBC title, so the Cotto-Canelo winner can’t force him to fight at a catch-weight if he doesn’t want to.

Of course, Cotto or Canelo can wave an ultimatum to Golovkin, telling him that unless he accepts a catch-weight of 155lbs, they’ll vacate the WBC title, leaving him with no fight at all. But I don’t Golovkin will agree to the catch-weight. If they don’t want to fight him without a handicap, then that’s their problem. Golovkin will be given the WBC title outside of the ring by the World Boxing Council.



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