By Dan Ambrose: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya expects WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 40 KOs) to be on his toes in their fight on November 21st on HBO PPV. De La Hoya believes that Cotto will be boxing, moving and trying not to get hit by the heavier 25-year-old Canelo.
However, De La Hoya has extreme doubts whether Cotto will be able to continue to stay on his toes for the full 12 rounds without tiring at some point. De La Hoya feels that once Cotto tires, Canelo will be able to jump on him to start using his size advantage against the lighter fighter.
Canelo doesn’t move well though, and he needs to have someone that is standing directly in front of him to do well. If Cotto can stay in motion for at least 10 rounds of the fight, then he should be able to make it through the last two rounds to get the win if he doesn’t KO Canelo earlier in the fight.
“Yes, Freddie Roach is going to have Miguel Cotto in tip-top shape. Freddie Roach is going to have Cotto probably stay on his toes,” De La Hoya said. “The question is, how long can Cotto stay on the toes? That’s the million dollar question. One thing for sure is that Freddie Roach is a great trainer, and he’s going to have Cotto in tip-top shape to go the distance, and we obviously expect a Miguel Cotto that’s going to come in strong and be ready.”
Start time: 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT
Location of fight: Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Where to watch? HBO pay-per-view
How much? $59.99
It’s hard to say for sure how Cotto will fight against Canelo, because he’s so hard to predict. Cotto can box for a while and show you very little, but then all of a sudden he can land a big shot and have you staggering around the ring. If Canelo gets confident in the first four rounds, Cotto could take advantage of that by nailing him with a big shot that he’s not expecting in the fight.
“We’re getting ready for a tough opponent in a 50-50 fight and I believe he will be strong and aggressive for12 rounds,” Alvarez said. “That’s what we have prepared for and we’re putting the finishing touches on, but we are ready.”
Canelo doesn’t move well enough for him to corner a fighter like Cotto to force him to fight. We saw Canelo basically shut out by both Erislandy Lara and Floyd Mayweather Jr. without being able to land head shots. The only thing that Canelo landed against Lara was a tiny handful of body shots, and he deserved to lose the fight.
Cotto has the punching power and the mobility to not only out-box Canelo, but to make him miss all night long. I think this could be a real nightmare for Canelo, because not only is he fighting a great boxer, but he’s also facing someone with punching power to punish him each time he gets nailed.
Comments are closed.