Cotto vs. Alvarez Results: Round-by-Round Analysis and Recap

A new lineal middleweight champion has been crowned in Las Vegas Saturday, as Saul Alvarez beat Miguel Cotto by wide margins on all three judges' cards. 

This one might not have been the Fight of the Year that Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya promised. But it was a fast-paced, well-fought battle worthy of pay-per-view status. 

Cotto fought a courageous, tactically sound fight. He used outstanding lateral movement and a very crisp jab. But the younger fighter's superior size was the story of the night. Canelo's punches landed with more authority, while the young Mexican walked through most of Cotto's best shots.

Judge John McKaie saw it the closest, at 117-111 for Canelo. Burt Clements had Alvarez winning 10 of 12 rounds, and Dave Moretti gave the new champion every round but one. 

An emotional Alvarez showed his class and charisma in the post-fight interview with HBO's Max Kellerman, saying of his vanquished opponent that "he's a great champion. I'll always admire him, but now it's my era."

With Canelo taking the lineal title at middleweight, the demand will be high for him to face WBA and IBF champion Gennady Golovkin. With Floyd Mayweather retired, Alvarez is the biggest star in the sport. But GGG is rising with a bullet himself. 

When asked about fighting Golovkin, Alvarez stated that he would fight him "right now."

"He's a great champion," Alvarez told Kellerman. "I know him, he's a friend of mine. But put the boxing gloves on and I'll fight him."

The pieces are in place for 2016 to be a very good year for boxing fans. 

Both fighters moved toward the center of the ring and studied each other. Cotto looked to initiate the action inside of the first 30 seconds. 

Alvarez appeared to be looking for the counterpunch and just missed with a big right hand about 40 seconds into the fight. Just over a minute in, Alvarez landed a body shot and Cotto answered with a punch upstairs. 

Both men looked to be eyeing for an opening to throw a big punch. Cotto landed two body shots about halfway through the round. 

Alvarez landed a big right hand to the body at about the two-minute mark, but Cotto continued to show very good movement and landed a nice body shot at about 2:45. 

Cotto showed very good lateral movement throughout the round, but Alvarez was able to time a couple of punches with Cotto's movement. It was a very even round. 

According to HBO's Jim Lampley, both men landed eight punches in the first round. Cotto started the second by throwing a straight jab and looking to follow it up with the straight right. 

Alvarez stayed in the pocket, while Cotto looked to continue using movement. Canelo scored with a big right hand to the body about 30 seconds into the round.

While Cotto continued to use more movement, Canelo continued to look for the opportunities to counter.

Canelo threw a big uppercut with Cotto against the ropes about two minutes in that excited the crowd but was largely blocked by Cotto.

It was another very close round, with Cotto's greater activity level possibly giving him the edge.  

Canelo began to open up in this round. He landed nice body shot about about 45 seconds into the round and just missed with a follow-up to the head. He landed a nice, straight right under a minute into the round and another one seconds later. 

Cotto came back with two good rights of his own, just inside of the first half of the round. 

In the second half of the round, Canelo continued his busier rate, mixing jabs with straight rights and hooks. At the same time, the timing of Cotto's jab frustrated Canelo. 

Canelo landed a sharp right hand at about 22 seconds left in the round, but Cotto handled it and managed to landed a nice hook of his own seconds later in response. 

Both fighters continued to show a very high skill level in Round 4. Canelo landed a big right hand about 20 seconds into the round, but Cotto began to use more movement to stay out of range and then approach at angles. 

Just past two minutes in, both fighters traded hard body shots. 

Cotto landed a nice double jab just inside the final 10 seconds of the round. It was not a heavy scoring combination, but it threw off Canelo's rhythm completely.

Canelo closed and landed a hard body shot just inside of the first 30 seconds, but about 10 seconds later, Cotto came back with his own hard shot to the body. 

Alvarez landed a hard right upstairs at about a minute in. About 15 seconds later, Alvarez landed a thudding body shot, which Cotto responded to by flurrying desperately. 

Alvarez landed a nice uppercut at about the two-minute mark and then a compact overhand right seconds later. Cotto consistently responded to Alvarez's scoring by throwing flurries of his own, but they did not appear to have much effect. 

Alvarez landed another big shot at about 12 seconds left in the round. 

Between rounds, Freddie Roach was asking Cotto to double up his jab in order to prevent Canelo from continuing to dictate the pace. 

But Canelo continued to be able to walk forward and throw thudding combinations. He landed a particularly hard series about a minute into the round. 

Cotto continued to need to use a lot of movement, and he often managed to get some good angles on Alvarez. But when Cotto did land, it showed minimal effect on Canelo. 

At the halfway mark, the size advantage was making an increasingly substantial difference in this fight. It was a very close, competitive fight, but Canelo's punches seemed to be having more effect. 

The first half of this fight was very close, but Canelo seemed to be taking control. HBO's Harold Lederman had him winning Rounds 5 and 6 to take a four-rounds-to-two lead. 

Cotto started the round with a lot of activity, but then Canelo began to walk forward again. He landed a heavy body shot about 40 seconds into the round.

Cotto continued to attempt to match Canelo's strength with movement and activity. Cotto was showing no signs of slowing down or becoming discouraged, but he really couldn't get into position to land the kind of punches he needed to land without letting Canelo hit him with bigger punches in return. 

Canelo landed a big uppercut about two minutes into the round. Cotto's activity level decreased noticeably for the remainder of the round. 

Canelo landed a hard uppercut seconds into the round. Cotto responded by forcing a furious exchange inside the first 30 seconds. It was an exciting flurry, but Canelo clearly seemed to be landing the heavier shots. 

Cotto refused to back up, but Canelo landed more big shots inside of the first 1:30 of the round. Cotto continued to make a heroic stand and landed a very nice left hook with about 1:12 left in the round. 

The final minute of the round, the pace slowed down. This round was a very brave stand by Cotto, but against a bigger, younger man, trading furiously was a dangerous strategy. 

The CompuBox totals provided by HBO stated that Canelo landed 18 more punches in Round 8, but Cotto seemed to dictate the pace, and HBO's Lederman scored the round for the champion. 

Round 9 saw a slacking of the action after the furious eighth. Canelo landed a brutal uppercut at 1:30. Cotto fired a double jab and continued to throw to the body with his own shots. 

The pace quickened again in the second half of the round. Canelo landed a tough hook downstairs and came back with a stinging uppercut off from it. Cotto showed his tough whiskers by hanging in the pocket and trading back with the challenger. 

Canelo continued to come forward in Round 10, his confidence growing. Cotto showed no sign of slowing down, remaining on his toes, even after getting hit with some heavy body blows throughout the fight. 

Alvarez landed a big straight right about 30 seconds into the round and came back with a body shot. Cotto continued to move on the outside, looking for the space to dictate the fight's pace with his jab. 

Canelo landed another big body shot with about 30 seconds left in the round that had a clear effect on Cotto. However, Cotto landed a big right hand upstairs with 10 seconds left. Alvarez finished the round with his own scoring combination. 

Max Kellerman interviewed Freddie Roach, Cotto's trainer, in the corner during Round 11, and Roach stated he felt his fighter was outscoring Canelo. But in the ring, Canelo continued to come forward, applying pressure. 

Just looking at the posture of the two fighters, Alvarez appeared to be the fighter winning the fight. Alvarez landed another thudding body shot at about two minutes into the round. 

Cotto continued to move well on his toes and score with the jab in Round 11. But as the penultimate round ended, Canelo seemed to be well up on the cards, even as Cotto was conceding nothing. 

Canelo came out looking to finish the fight with a flair, landing some big uppercuts within the opening seconds of the round. Cotto stayed in the pocket and fought back with courage. 

But as the round wore on, Canelo continued to land the heavier punches, walking through Cotto's punches to load up with his own. 

By the final minute of the round, Cotto was back to moving on the outside. He closed into range and attemped to land his signature lead hook on Canelo, but Canelo ducked under it and punished Cotto with a thudding body shot. 

Both men fought hard down to the final bell, then immediately congratulated each other as it rang. Both men fought and conducted themselves like champions.