Trainer Freddie Roach believes when Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KO’s) and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KO’s) battle for the WBC World middleweight title on November 21st, they will leave a landmark on the sport of boxing behind them.
Roach and Cotto have made a formidable team since joining forces in 2013 with Cotto winning the WBC strap in just their second fight together. They have shared three camps in total and all have culminated in a stoppage win on fight night.
On paper, Canelo is Cotto’s toughest opponent since Floyd Mayweather Jr, whom he lost out to three years ago via unanimous decision. He is physically strong, explosive in attack and adept in defence, and even under the catchweight conditions of 155 lbs. that this fight will take place under, he will likely look the bulkier of the two when they enter the ring.
This will undoubtedly be the most glamorous fight of the calendar year since Floyd and Manny Pacquiao tangled this past May. Roach is at home in the ‘big fight’ environment and he told Boxing News Online he has no doubts whatsoever that his man will be willing and able for the task when it arrives.
“We have a big game plan for Miguel and we are going to work on that together. He’ll be in great shape of course. I don’t think [Canelo] is stronger than us to be honest with you, and I don’t think that’s a factor in the fight. I think we’re stronger than him. I think we’re the better puncher, and we will show on fight night. But we will come up with a big game plan like we did in the last three fights. Miguel is a really hard worker and he’s very dedicated. Me and him, we do work very well together and I expect this to be one of the greatest fights of all time.”
“[Canelo] is a good fighter. He’s a young guy. He’s a good puncher. He’s been in there with everybody. I think his last fight [James Kirkland], it wasn’t a very high caliber opponent; and then someone told me, ours wasn’t either. And I said no, ours [Daniel Geale] was a former two-time world champion.”
Choosing who is the better opponent out of a James Kirkland who had been MIA for nearly three years and a Daniel Geale who looked zombified after making another catchweight limit of 157 lbs. is a redundant exercise. Let’s just say both had their good points and bad by the time Cotto and Canelo knocked them out. There is no doubting Canelo’s was the more spectacular, though.
Canelo has also been in with and lost to Floyd Mayweather and so has encountered for himself the sneakiest craftsman around. Despite that experience Roach believes he will struggle to deal with the guile and intelligence he and Cotto have nurtured individually through long careers and have now added to each others’ lots.
“I think this is a big step up for him and I think that we’re going to, Miguel will take him to school. I think we’re just too smart. We’re going to come out with a really good, great game plan. Me and Miguel worked really hard on that; we work really hard together and we are going to be at our best for this one. Again, this is a big, big fight for us.”
This is a huge occasion for both fighters. For Cotto, it is a chance to dispel some of the negativity surrounding his middleweight title reign. In winning the belt and in each scheduled defence since he has insisted on dragging the stipulated weight down as far as possible. This time it is hardly a problem because Canelo has been fighting just above the light-middleweight limit for over a year, but these extra stipulations undermine his legitimacy even though he has previously stated he is not a real middleweight.
A win for the Puerto-Rican champion would be a fine finishing gloss to a tremendous career, and even a battling loss would not look too bad given the respective stages these fighters are at in their careers.
A loss for Canelo would be far more damaging. Gone would be the aura of the young Mexican phenomenon after losing a second consecutive super-fight, and it would take years to regain. Of course he would still be celebrated by fans as a good fighter and pushed to the top of big bills by his Golden Boy promoters, but he would not be considered the creme de la creme, as everything about him suggests he wants to be.
This is the best chance Canelo will have to rip through an established star like Cotto -who has reigned supreme in the realm of the boxer-puncher for over a decade- and take the mantel as the top guy around. Mayweather is on his way out. Somebody has to fill the vacuum.
