“I don’t need a title”, Cotto said. It was Golovkin’s pay-per-view debut and, though it didn’t sell in big numbers, the fight was a coming out bout of sorts for those not familiar with the undefeated knockout artist from Kazakhstan, who now lives in Los Angeles. HBO Pay-Per-View in the United States will be showing it for $69.95 in HD, (you can watch it in SD for $10 bucks cheaper).
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Canelo had the edge in hand speed from the beginning, but Cotto’s hands looked even slower from the midway point on. The boxer from Puerto Rico connected with some nice combinations and attempted to fight on the inside a few times, but could not overcome the size and strength difference. One of the featured prelim bouts was not without controversy as defending IBF bantamweight champion Randy Caballero had to vacate his title on the scale as he missed weight badly. “That is how important this event is to us”.
Roach was magnanimous in defeat toward Alvarez, saying, “He’s become a better fighter”. The WBC confirmed that it remains firm that the WBC proclaimed champion should face the sanctioning body’s mandatory challenger, Gennady Golovkin, per another Boxing Scene article. If Canelo wants to fight in September, on Mexican Independence Day weekend-and that’s my prediction-Golovkin will be ready and waiting. That said, it would not surprise me if Canelo doesn’t fight Golovkin right away. “I thought we won the fight”.
Not that Cotto is terribly concerned with the gaudy green belt. The middleweight bout, all of which are normally fought at 160 lbs. or 72 kgs, was held at a catchweight of 155 lbs or 70 kgs. I have enough belts in my house. As the possibility looms that it could be his last fight, he may want to go out with a bang, and what better way to exit than to take on the newly crowned champion.
Cotto is a big attraction himself, though it appeared his career was over after back-to-back losses to Mayweather and Austin Trout in 2012. “If you guys don’t believe me, I’ll get back in and go another 12 rounds”.
But Roach admits he’d love to see Cotto knock out Alvarez – then call out Floyd Mayweather to end his brief retirement and put his 49-0 record on the line.
It was supposed to be a fight for the WBC middleweight championship and still is, sort of. CompuBox shows Cotto threw more punches in Round 1.
Cotto tried to change the momentum in round six. But at age 35, he wants to box more against an opponent who is a decade younger.
“I know I can punch, and I can hit hard”, Cotto said.
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“I was crossing my fingers every single minute of every round”.
