Alvarez outlasts Cotto to win WBC title

Promoters hope it is speaking loudly as they try to sell the bout from the Mandalay Bay resort for $69.95 on pay-per-view. “I’ll fight him right now”, said Alvarez, who was visibly elated with his win over Cotto. “Miguel’s defense was unbelievable”.

This might be a dance we see for a while, a lesser version of the lengthy dance between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. He already shared this desire to have another shot at “The Money” after the unbeaten boxer announced his retirement in May and was still picking his opponent for his 49th and farewell fight, Boxing News 24 noted. “I will always respect him and he’s a great champion, but now it’s my era”, crowed Alvarez, who fought Cotto at a catchweight of 155 pounds, five pounds less than the division limit of 160.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez landed 155 punches for 32% compared to the 129 blows connected by Miguel Cotto for 21%, according to CompuBox.

Alvarez can afford to be picky, but not for long. The Kazakh is the WBC interim champion and the mandatory opponent for Canelo, and if Alvarez’s team does not make a deal to fight him in the next 15 days, then Canelo risks being stripped of the belt he just won.

“With all due respect, if he wants to fight right now, I’ll put the gloves on and fight him”, Alvarez said through a translator of “Triple-G” immediately after the fight.

There is no denying the fact that the two were playing two very different games. The 25-year old Mexican convincingly won the 12-round bout by unanimous decision and claimed the linear middleweight crown as well as the WBC world middleweight title in the process. Cotto rushed out of the ring upon hearing the decision and failed to show up for the post-fight news conference because he was shocked with the loss.

As the fight went into the later rounds, Alvarez’s power wore down Cotto, who didn’t have enough gas in the tank to get a stoppage.

It appeared it could get a little dicey in the later rounds, when Canelo’s activity level slowed and Cotto seemed to be racking up points with soft but accurate jabs. Still, it was a decent scrap between a young, hungry animal in Canelo Alvarez, and a vastly experienced Hall of Famer in Miguel Cotto.

“GGG is a great fighter…”

Aside from the title, the same report indicated that defeating Cotto will “erase any lingering doubts about just how good he is and uphold the honor of Mexico”. This is for all the fans of Puerto Rico and Mexico. “It was a competitive fight”.

Cotto’s output was high, but Canelo was able to evade them quite easily, and punished the former’s aggression with powerful right hands and uppercuts. Most were on their feet in the final round when the two went toe-to-toe in the early moments of the round.