In what many tabbed could be the fight of the year, including us, Canelo Alvarez ended up victorious in another great Mexican-Puerto Rican boxing battle.
After 12 rounds, Canelo scored a unanimous decision over the 35-year-old Miguel Cotto in their PPV WBC middleweight championship at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The official scores were 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111, or 11-1, 10-2 and 9-3 in rounds.
With the win, Canelo moves to 46-1-1, gives him his second weight class championship and puts the fighters on a four fight win streak, his last loss coming two years ago against Floyd Mayweather.
It’s a great victory for me, and not just for me but for all of my country, Alvarez said. For all of my people, my family and especially for my team. I’ve got a great trainer and he’s the one who brought me here from nothing. I didn’t know what a jab was and now we’ve gotten to this level.
Cotto lost for the first time in three years, and the first time in four fights with new trainer Freddie Roach.
Looming in the wings now is the mega-fight with Gennady Golovkin, aka Triple G, who holds the IBF, IBO and WBA belts.
If you want me to fight him right now, put the gloves on and I’ll fight him right now, Alvarez said. I respect he’s a great champion, but right now I’ll put the gloves on against him.
“I’m not afraid of any fighter. GGG is a great fighter, and he is my friend,” Alvarez said. “I have respect for him, but if we do fight, it’s going to be at my [natural] weight class [of 155 pounds]. I’m the champion. I don’t have to do what he wants.”
Fight fans are hoping this fight comes to fruition in 2016, especially those of GGG who are dying to silence the critics who say that the fighter from Kazakistan hasn’t “fought anyone.”
