Miguel Cotto

Two years, two months and a few days.

That’s how long it’s been since Saul Alvarez entered the ring as a newbie.

Lest anyone forget, that night—Sept. 14, 2013, to be exact—a 23-year-old version of Canelo stepped in against the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and, after 36 minutes of one-sided combat, was determined to be not quite ready for a prime-time Money shot.

The loss prompted a six-month hiatus for the youngster, who’s since returned to record three consecutive victories (two by stoppage) while rebuilding the cinnamon-haired brand into one that’s again sharing a marquee for a significant premium cable-sanctioned pay-per-view show.

And while violent defeats of guys named Alfredo Angulo and James Kirkland don’t necessarily warrant a fast-track enshrinement in Canastota, the 25-year-old fighter, who’ll climb through the ropes to face Miguel Cotto this weekend at Mandalay Bay, appears to be markedly different in substance, if not in style.

“I think he's matured a lot in many different ways,” said Kevin Rooney Jr., director of public relations for DiBella Entertainment and son of Mike Tyson’s ex-trainer.

“He's a legitimate superstar and he has embraced it and knows how to handle it and deal with it, while still focusing on his training and keeping his mind on the fight. It's not an easy thing to do, especially at such a young age, but he seems to have found a happy medium. He's going into this confident and knows how much is at stake.”

Indeed, though he projected assurance across a 10-city hype tour that preceded the Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight, the Alvarez that emerged from the corner that night instantly put himself behind the eight-ball by ditching hell-bent-for-leather aggression for the champion’s somnambulant pace.

He was in a 5-1 hole on two scorecards by the halfway point, and—lunacy of C.J. Ross notwithstanding—didn’t truly find his groove until the first few rounds against Angulo half a year later.

He barely escaped a would-be track meet with Erislandy Lara in July 2014, then followed up the Mayweather-Pacquiao chess match in May with a two-fisted bludgeoning of Kirkland that HBO’s Max Kellerman called “maybe, all things considered, the most electrifying” of his career.

Though he’s nowhere near as one-dimensional as the Mandingo Warrior, Cotto’s rugged style still strays far nearer to Alvarez’s wheelhouse than Mayweather’s ever has—and if the Alvarez who won on May 9 shows up again on Nov. 21, it could be him as Salvador Sanchez to the 35-year-old’s Wilfredo Gomez.

“Stylistically, it's a much different fight than Mayweather,” Rooney said, “and one that I see favoring the younger and stronger Canelo.”

Add that to the mojo gained from the first trip to the circus and it feels like a different proposition this time, too. Toward that end, the initial version of HBO’s 24/7 preview series showed viewers an Alvarez whose close-cropped haircut and measured tone makes him appear ready for a smashing encore.

“Once you’ve been through it, it becomes old hat,” said Ray Mancini, an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee who’d won and lost a world lightweight title by age 23.

The fighter himself agreed.

“I'm a fighter now that's very, very different,” Alvarez said in August, at the Los Angeles stop of the Cotto fight’s media tour. “I’ve had some tough fights in between, some very good victories. I’m a more mature fighter. I’m stronger and more mature. This is the perfect time for this fight. This is a 50/50 fight and the better man's going to win.

“He's a great fighter, period. And being able to beat a guy like him, a great fighter like him, yes, it’s going to do wonders for my career. Yes, if I beat him it signifies a lot for my career.”

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

Former boxing champion turned president of Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya is not happy with Miguel Cotto just four days before the 35-year-old is set to fight Saul "Canelo" Alvarez for the WBC middleweight title.

Alvarez, a boxer with Golden Boy, will still fight Cotto on Saturday at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino despite the fact Cotto was stripped of the WBC middleweight title on Tuesday for refusing to pay a $300,000 sanctioning fee, per Dan Rafael of ESPN.com.

De La Hoya expressed his frustration with Cotto's decision not to pay the fee, per Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com: "It's a disgrace. It's a disgrace to the promotion. It's a disgrace to the sport to do something like that. Every fighter dreams of fighting for the WBC middleweight championship, and to do something like that is a disgrace. Look, I can assure one thing—Canelo is ticked off about it."

Even though this does not affect whether Canelo can earn the title, it certainly takes away from the promotion of the event, which is what set De La Hoya off. 

Rafael reported the WBC will award Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) the title with a victory over Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs). Cotto will be lineal champion with a win, while WBC interim titleholder Gennady Golovkin will benefit by being named full WBC titlist.    

Although this doesn't bode well for De La Hoya, in actuality it doesn't change anything with the fight. Canelo will hold the title if he is victorious, while Cotto made a business decision that made sense to him.

Rafael seems to think De La Hoya is overreacting:

De La Hoya can complain all he wants, but the fight will go on as scheduled. Of course, it wouldn't be a boxing match without some drama leading up to it.

Just days before Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez will clash in a highly anticipated catchweight bout Saturday, the World Boxing Council made the decision to stop recognizing Cotto as its middleweight champion.  

The WBC announced the decision Tuesday on the basis that the Puerto Rican superstar has not followed the rules and regulations set forth by the council:

After several weeks of communications, countless attempts and good faith time extensions trying to preserve the fight as a WBC World Championship, Miguel Cotto and his promotion did not agree to comply with the WBC Rules & Regulations, while Saul Alvarez has agreed to do so.  Accordingly, the WBC must rule on the matter prior to the fight.

The WBC hereby announces that effective immediately has withdrawn recognition of Miguel Cotto as WBC World Middleweight Champion. If Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez wins the fight against Cotto, he will be recognized as the WBC middleweight world champion.

ESPN.com's Dan Rafael reported that sources told him Cotto refused to pay a sanction fee he had previously agreed to with the WBC.

On Thursday, Cotto spoke about the fee and the WBC championship.

"I don't need a belt to fight Canelo," Cotto said, via Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com. "I get to keep $1.1 million in my banking account, it's better for me."

He continued:

We're having so much problems right now, in these days, with boxing organizations, because they make too many champions in one division. And then every guy believes they have the right to face the champion right now, like Golovkin, and I have to pay him $800,000 buck just to move away to make the fight with Canelo. It's not fair for me. It's not fair to the boxing. It's not fair for us as the boxer and it's not fair for the fans.

Despite the fact that Saturday's fight in Las Vegas will be fought at a catchweight of 155 pounds, the WBC, Lineal and The Ring middleweight titles are all scheduled to be on the line.

Regardless of the bout's result, however, a new WBC middleweight champion will be crowned at some point in the near future.

That accolade will belong to Alvarez should he win, but if the 25-year-old star from Mexico loses for the second time in his professional career, the belt will go to interim champion Gennady Golovkin, as revealed by WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman to Matt Christie of BoxingNewsOnline.net.

The WBC gave no specifics regarding the rules the 35-year-old Cotto failed to abide by, but it is possible that his affinity for catchweight fights, in addition to the potential monetary issue, rubbed the council the wrong way.

The stakes remain high for the biggest boxing encounter since Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Manny Pacquiao in May, but as far as the WBC is concerned, only one man will be competing for its championship Saturday night.

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Miguel Cotto and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez will square off in the ring Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas for a chance at the middleweight title.

Before that fight takes place, boxing fans will get a behind-the-scenes look at the how the fighters are preparing for the bout, on HBO's award-winning 24/7 series: Cotto/Canelo.

The two-part series includes in-depth interviews with both fighters. Below are listings of when and where you can watch the mini-series:

Preview

Rick Bernstein, executive producer of HBO Sports, is excited for fans of the sport to see this documentary, per BoxingNews24.com:

The intensity, rivalry and significance of Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico versus Canelo Alvarez of Mexico will make for great storytelling in this all-new edition of ‘24/7.’ This is a mega-fight that will generate tremendous interest, and we look forward to documenting the multiple storylines generated by this red-hot showdown.

This will be the fifth HBO 24/7 series Cotto has appeared in, and the first for Alvarez, per Dan Rafael of ESPN. More importantly for the fighters, it will be the first fight between the two and will crown the middleweight champion.

The 35-year-old Cotto is 40-4 (33 KOs), and 25-year-old Alvarez is 45-1-1 (32 KOs). Neither are used to losing, and the mini-series will show viewers how these successful fighters prepare for their matches, with perhaps some good ol' fashioned boxing trash talk.

Per BoxingInsider.com's Twitter account, Cotto recently inferred Alvarez better be in top shape if he wants to win:

Below is the trailer for the documentary:

The backdrop of the match will provide plenty of drama for the HBO special. Cotto is the reigning WBC, lineal and The Ring world middleweight champ, while Alvarez is the up-and-comer who has only been defeated once—via Floyd Mayweather Jr.—in 47 fights.

Alvarez held the WBA (regular) and The Ring light middleweight title until he lost to the undefeated Mayweather in Sept. 2013. He is a formidable foe for Cotto, and this documentary will be great insight for fans who want more than just the action in the ring.

Canelo is one of the faces of Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Productions. The former champion boxer broke down the match Thursday for ESPN. He said the buildup is strong two years after this fight nearly happened in 2013.

Making The Rounds: @OscarDeLaHoya breaks down #CottoCanelo with @danrafaelespn & @BCampbellESPN https://t.co/YrnOap3pvL @GoldenBoyBoxing

— ESPN Boxing (@ESPNBoxing) November 5, 2015

One of the main points De La Hoya made is that when Alvarez fought Mayweather he was still inexperienced, and has matured since then. It will be interesting to see if the film tries to play off the age difference between the two.

Cotto seems poised and ready to defend his title, while Alvarez is hungry and trying to make a claim as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters today.

HBO always does a great job with its 24/7 series, and this should be a real treat for boxing fans considering the skill of each fighter and the difference in where each fighter stands in their respective careers.

*Immediately following the World Championship Boxing doubleheader that begins at 9:30 p.m. (ET/PT)

Even in the midst of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s announced retirement on the heels of his victory over Andre Berto in Saturday night's welterweight title bout in Las Vegas, the focus hasn't shifted away from Mayweather adding that round No. 50 to his record in the near future.

The pound-for-pound king has insisted ever since before his May fight with Manny Pacquiao that he'd step in the ring in September for the last time, and that tune hasn't changed even after Mayweather's win. After dispatching of Berto quite easily in a 12-round unanimous decision, he shared his thoughts on retirement with ESPN's Brian Campbell:

With that said, Mayweather has announced his retirement from the sport before. With a large sum of millions to add to his bank account and the prospect of inching past Rocky Marciano's 49-0 record with which he's now tied, it's not hard to envision a scenario for Mayweather's return to the ring.

One thing is certain—the best welterweights aren't going to back down from the idea of facing Mayweather in a potential 50th fight. With that in mind, let's take a look at three boxers who could get the call if the 38-year-old chooses to lace up the gloves again.

Winner of Miguel Cotto vs. Saul "Canelo" Alvarez

These two boxers are being bunched together only because they're getting ready for a massive encounter on November 21, and it's impossible to fathom the loser of that one having any real shot at Mayweather. But whoever should win, you can bet he'll call out the 49-0 champion.

Yes, both boxers have had their shot at Mayweather over the last couple of years and came up short. But it's not hard to say that those two fights are the toughest Mayweather has had over that time span. 

The 34-year-old Cotto had Mayweather on his back foot during their bout, and in the middle rounds, it appeared he was winning the fight before he got gassed and opened the door for Mayweather. It's not surprising, then, that Cotto is eyeing another shot at Mayweather should he beat Alvarez, per Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News.

"We don't know exactly what Mayweather—he said before that he's going to retire after this fight (with Berto)," Cotto said. "I can't point to someone who's not going to be here later. But if he's going to stay after his fight, I think and I know that's a fight (between he and I) that people can watch."

Alvarez would pose quite the threat to Mayweather as well. Although outmatched in their first encounter, the 25-year-old has improved since then, most recently knocking out James Kirkland in the third round.

If Mayweather wants to stick it to those who say he avoids top competition, he can simply schedule the winner of Cotto vs. Alvarez and shut a lot of people up.

Shawn Porter

If Mayweather isn't sure about the laurels of Shawn Porter and wonders whether he even deserves a shot at him in a potential 50th fight, all he has to do is ask his buddy, Adrien Broner. 

Porter handed Broner just the second loss of his career back in June, beating his opponent to a pulp in what was a unanimous-decision victory that could have been stopped much earlier. Although Porter is joining a long list of such contenders, his trainer handed out some stern words to Mayweather after that fight, per the Las Vegas Sun's Case Keefer.

"We’re going to do the battle for Las Vegas," Ken Porter, his trainer/father, said. "We live on the same street, right down the street from Floyd—about a mile-and-a-half. Don’t ignore us. Don’t act like the elephant’s not in the room."

It's easy to see why Porter is appearing so confident despite Mayweather's track record. The 27-year-old has lost just once in his career, and even that was a majority decision to Kell Brook that could have gone either way.

There may not be a boxer on the planet who can truly hang with Mayweather in his weight class, but Porter poses as big of a threat as anyone. If Money scheduled Porter, it certainly wouldn't be a bashful way to win No. 50.

Manny Pacquiao

We all saw what happened when Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao finally put the talking to rest and stepped into the ring for 12 rounds. The way that unfolded leaves a rematch awfully unlikely.

But it would take some serious ignorance to pretend like this wouldn't be the No. 1 motivator for Mayweather to get back in the ring one last time.

In case you were living under a rock all summer, Mayweather and Pacquiao carded what was likely the largest single-night payout in sports history. Mayweather pocketed as much as $180 million, while Pacquiao, even with the short end of the stick, raked in around $100 million, per the Associated Press via the New York Post. 

Plus, there are the IV and shoulder controversies that have clouded perception of that fight. A report surfaced from boxing journalist Thomas Hauser (h/t ESN.com) that Mayweather received an illegal IV prior to the bout; additionally, Pacquiao was nursing a shoulder injury that required surgery after and limited his ability to fight his fight.

It may be too late to find out what would happen in a potential rematch, and it's a given that the two boxers will be even more past their primes than they were in May. But it's hard to envision Mayweather—or Pacquiao—passing up the chance at another nine-figure payday.