Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez came on strong in the championship rounds to earn a unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto, and declared: “Now it’s my era.”
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With victory, the 25-year-old captured the WBC middleweight title, status as the division’s lineal champion and consolidated his powerful position at the top of boxing.
Billed as the antidote to the resentment still lingering in Las Vegas following the Mayweather-Pacquiao anti-climax; this was a fight that simmered furiously without ever boiling over.
It didn’t make it any less engrossing, however, and cards of 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111 – all in favour of Canelo – painted a slightly distorted picture of events and prompted Cotto to the flee the ring in disgust immediately after they were announced.
Canelo “If we (GGG) do fight, it’s going to be at my weight class. I’m the champion, and I don’t have to do what he wants.”
— Laceupboxing (@Laceupboxing) November 22, 2015
“My guy fought a good fight,” said Cotto’s trainer Freddie Roach. “It was a good, close fight, a competitive fight and it was good for boxing. I thought we had the edge at the end but it went the other way. The scoring was bad. There’s no way we lost by that much. We won the fight.”
Indeed, the first half of the bout was a tale of jabs. Cotto’s frequent, sometimes doubled for good measure, as he circled the Mexican.
Canelo’s, meanwhile, was non-existent, scarcely thrown as he stalked, looking to load up.
“Double up that jab and make him chase you,” said Roach between rounds. Cotto listened and it worked, with there being a strong case for him leading 4-2 at halfway, or at the very least being level.
The 35-year-old boxed beautifully at times, and while Canelo’s head movement and markedly improved defence often made him miss, offensively the challenger had been inactive, save for a few eye-catching right hand counters – notably a punishing uppercut.
Momentum shifted, however, as it progressed into the later rounds. Canelo won the seventh, while the eighth, the best session of the fight, was perhaps the turning point as the younger man decisively had the last word in some pulsating exchanges.
Cotto bounced back briefly in the 10th but ultimately lacked the power to halt the bigger man’s ominous march towards victory.
Canelo’s heavier work, to head and body, began to take its toll and with Cotto’s movement slowing under the strain, the centre of the ring became a battle ground. The final round had the crowd on their feet and was again edged by Canelo – the rightful winner of a bout rich in mutual admiration.
“I’m very happy. Much respect to Miguel Cotto. He’s a great champion. But now it’s my era,” said Canelo. “It’s a great victory for me, not just me but all of my country.”
Naturally, it took little time for talk to turn to the man sat ringside, grinning ear to ear, the WBA and IBF champion, Gennady Golovkin.
. @OscarDeLaHoya post fight interview #CottoCanelo https://t.co/EFeqvGMjAZ
— GoldenBoyPromotions (@GoldenBoyBoxing) November 22, 2015
“If he wants to fight right now, I’ll put on the gloves and fight him right now,” Alvarez said of a possible unification in his post-fight interview, while he responded to the same question at his press conference by flexing his biceps and adding: “I’m ready.”
So are the WBC, who have ordered the bout to take place. Promoter Oscar De La Hoya insisted it will happen, and while revealing Canelo will fight in May and September 2016, he refused to confirm one of those bouts will be against Golovkin.
“We’re going to let him rest and then we’ll talk about it. Is he going to fight Triple-G? Absolutely, of course. It’s not a question. Canelo is willing to fight anyone. I’m not saying he’s fighting anyone else, but I’m not announcing anything.”
His partner at Golden Boy, Bernard Hopkins, spoke more pointedly: “You have to look at all these ingredients and ask, ‘do we get (Golovkin) now?’ or ‘do we get him a fight or two from now?’.”
As for Cotto, who banked a cool $15 million (Canelo got $5m), Roach admitted the end was near for his man, whose record now stands at 40-5 after a gruelling 14-year career.
A step back down to fighting as a legitimate light-middleweight is likely if he is to continue. And while he has absolutely nothing left to prove, on this evidence he can still be a big player in that division.
