WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KO’s) and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KO’s) have come to an agreement that when they do fight, there will be a catch-weight in place.
However, they are not meeting eye-to-eye on the specific weight ahead of their potential PPV clash in November, which will be televised on HBO.
Cotto wants the catch-weight at 155 lbs., which is two pounds lower than the catch-weight he requested for Australian Daniel Geale, who he stopped inside the fourth round in June.
The former WBC light-middleweight champion Alvarez is requesting a catch-weight of 156 lbs. Cotto is not likely going to cave in my opinion.
Here’s why.
I published an article earlier about how Gennady Golovkin has Miguel Cotto in a corner, and there isn’t much room to hide anymore unless the four-division world champion opts to retire.
If Cotto caves in and ends up defeating Canelo, which is a possibility, Golovkin could use that as a sign of psychological weakness and employ the same strategy against Cotto. On the other hand, I don’t think Alvarez is dumb enough to miss out on a huge payday over a single pound.
In this day and age in the sport, the politics and the business usually depends on who holds the most leverage, and Miguel Cotto has it in this situation.
He knows how it feels to be on the receiving end of these type of tactics, and he doesn’t care, either. He fought Manny Pacquiao at a catch-weight and was stopped late, he was stopped by Antonio Margarito, who may have been using loaded gloves, and he’s been in some tough battles.
Canelo rehydrated up to 172 lbs for his April 2013 fight against Austin Trout, so the catch-weight may not affect him. Perhaps Canelo is just pushing just a teeny little bit for an advantage over the Puerto Rican. As I said, I don’t think Cotto will fall for it.
In my opinion, there shouldn’t be any catch-weights for title fights, period. But, that isn’t my call. But I do call on all fans and voices in our sport to speak up more and louder on the matter.
According to ESPN Deportes, the fight will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, as New York and Texas were ruled out. The fight will either take place November 7th or the 21st.
If the fight happens on the 7th, the MGM Grand will be the venue. However, it’s also been reported that Canelo dislikes the MGM, but there is still hope.
If the fight happens on the 21st, the fight will take place at the Thomas & Mack Center. We’ll see what happens, folks.
