SONAHR: June 7, 2015 – It seems as though Miguel Cotto has been around forever. Not Bernard Hopkins-style forever ? after all, Cotto is only 34 years old. Even so, one has to be of a certain age to remember when Cotto had hair on his head, and no tattoos on his skin.
It also seemed that the Puerto Rican had disappeared after stopping an injury-plagued WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez a year ago. That made Cotto a four-division champion, and the first Puerto Rican pugilist to accomplish that feat.
Further feats beckoned. With his new title in hand, Cotto appeared set to earn big bucks by fighting either middleweight terror Gennady Golovkin, who holds the WBA ?super? version of the 160-lb crown, or Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez, who is still a lucrative opponent despite his lop-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013. Cotto took advantage of those golden opportunities by dropping out of sight, and out of mind.
A Cotto-Canelo blockbuster seemed set for earlier this year, but the deal fell through. Instead, Canelo met slugger James Kirkland in a two-sided war. And on Saturday, Cotto came in from the cold with a one-sided blowout of Daniel Geale. Displaying the fire and fury that had marked the early part of his career, Cotto dropped Geale twice in the fourth round, prompting the referee to halt the contest.
As recently as two years ago, Geale held the IBF and WBA ?super? titles. But Golovkin blasted him out in three rounds last year, and he really didn?t put up much of a fight against Cotto, either. Still, the win was sufficient to inspire Cotto to call out Alvarez. If Cotto-Canelo comes off in September, as anticipated, it will be the second-biggest superfight of 2015, after Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao. And it?s likely to be far more entertaining than the ?Fight of the Century? proved to be.
Alvarez, who campaigns as a light-middleweight, would be moving up a division to face Cotto ? but only technically. Cotto won his first title at light-welterweight (140 lb), and against Geale, he weighed in at 153.6 lb., which is slightly under the light-middleweight limit of 154. So he and Alvarez would be on a par in terms of physical equipment.
Age is a different matter. Canelo is a decade younger than Cotto. Although Cotto hasn?t shown much wear-and tear in his most recent contests, he absorbed debilitating punishment in defeats at the hands of Antonio Margarito (in their first fight), Mayweather, and Pacquiao. Alvarez?s lone loss, to Mayweather, was more embarrassing than injurious.
So, Alvarez would be going into a Cotto battle with youth and momentum on his side. But Cotto is a sure-fire, first-ballot hall-of-famer, and he?s definitely not done yet. Both fighters are skilled boxer-punchers. Their experience is similar, with Alvarez having a total of 47 bouts to his name and Cotto 44. Cotto, however, has greater ?big-fight? cred than his younger rival, and has faced a significantly higher quality of opposition.
Cotto-Canelo is a classic crossroads ?pick ?em? matchup. The winner?s reward will be a showdown with Golovkin sometime next year.
Some reward, huh?
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His novels, Imaro, Damballa, and Abengoni: First Calling are available at Amazon.com.
