Canelo says Cotto fight won’t be like Mayweather-Pacquiao

By Boxing News - 09/20/2015 - Comments

1-cotto-canelo-m (10)By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) is guaranteeing that his November 21st match-up against WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) will be an exciting fight and totally unlike the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight on May 2nd this year.

Canelo seems to think that his fight will be better fight, but Canelo didn’t look good in his fights against Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout and Mayweather. Those weren’t boring fights because of Canelo’s opponents.

Canelo made them bad as well by missing with his punches, and needing to take rest breaks against the ropes after he turned red in the face from exerting himself.

If the Cotto-Canelo fight is going to be an exciting one it’ll be due to Cotto making it that way by attacking the 175lb Canelo at all times and not letting him take frequent rest breaks against the ropes when he gets tired, which he obviously will if Cotto pushes a fast pace against him.

“No, not at all,” Canelo said to the daily news, when asked if boxing fans will be angry at the lack of action like the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. “This is a guarantee. Without a doubt, this is a fight. “We are both coming to win, we are both going to fight. We are both going to lay it on (the line) and without a doubt, this is a fight for real.”

I think there’s a good chance that the Cotto-Canelo fight will be a boring one if Canelo chooses to take frequent breaks, or if he tries to box like he did against Mayweather and Trout. If you look at Canelo’s past fights, he only attacks when he’s not getting nailed a lot by head and body shots.

When Canelo gets hit with shots that hurt him, he starts boxing and avoids slugging it out. He’s aggressive when he’s got an opponent that runs from him, and when facing someone weak, small or slow. If his opponent runs, he’ll chase them, but if they attack, he backs off and doesn’t want any. There’s a certain psychology to Canelo’s game.

Against Cotto, he won’t be facing a guy much smaller or slower than him like some of his past opponents. He also won’t be facing a weaker fighter in terms of punching power. This means if Cotto really gives it to Canelo in the first few rounds, I see Canelo backing off and retreating to the ropes where he’ll try and use head movement and his jab to keep from getting hit.

“I know it can go down in history as one of the great fights between México and Puerto Rico, and that’s what I’m looking forward to,” Canelo said.

Like I said, the only way I see this fight as an exciting one is if Cotto makes it exciting. Once he nails Canelo with a few hard shots, he’s going to have him backing off to the ropes. Canelo is too flat-footed and slow on his feet to run from Cotto. But he will do is hang on the ropes and look to escape punishment that way.

Canelo lodges himself against the ropes like a turtle and tries to avoid getting hit. He’ll pot shot from that position and stay in the posture round after round, especially if Cotto pushes a fast pace.



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