Welterweight

Score this one for Mexico.

In the latest chapter of the storied Mexico-Puerto Rico boxing rivalry, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (46-1-1) carried his country's flag to victory over Miguel "Junito" Cotto (40-5). Alvarez won a lopsided unanimous decision and the WBC middleweight championship Saturday night in Las Vegas.

ESPN.com's Dan Rafael shared the scorecards:

Per HBO Boxing, Canelo announced his arrival as the premier attraction in the sport:

Alvarez's quicker hands and harder punches were the difference in the bout. The two men came out tentative, offering respect for the other's power. 

However, when they did exchange punches during the first three rounds, it appeared as though Canelo's punches reached their target quicker and with more steam. This became evident as the fight went on.

Cotto wanted to land his powerful left hook to the body, but Canelo was hip to that strategy. He consistently turned his right side into Cotto's body when the two were in close quarters.

That slight maneuver took away Cotto's angle for his money punch. Meanwhile, Canelo was unleashing hard jabs, straight rights, uppercuts and hooks with bad intentions. 

He didn't land all of them, but the combination of his activity and the impact of the shots that did find their mark impressed the judges. Not everyone loved the judges' scores, though. Tom Craze of Bad Left Hook and Laceupboxing tweeted their displeasure:

Cotto deserved to win four rounds in the fight. The second and fourth were solid frames for him, and the 10th and 11th also belonged to him, when it seemed as though Canelo began to coast. 

Aside from that, it was all Canelo. The best round of the fight was the eighth. That's when Canelo put his foot down and stamped out Cotto's last chance to stem the tide.

The two fighters traded shots, but Canelo got the better of the exchanges. Cotto withstood the punches, but he was worse off when the bell rang.

Canelo had the edge in hand speed from the beginning, but Cotto's hands looked even slower from the midway point on. Perhaps it was the 10-year age difference (Cotto is 35, and Alvarez is 25), or all the wars Cotto has been through.

In any case, there's no question as to which fighter was fresher at the end, or who deserved to win the fight. 

Cotto had been the WBC champion before being stripped of the title days before Saturday's fight. He refused to pay the sanctioning fees to hold on to the belt; thus, the title was at stake only for Canelo. 

Now that Canelo is the champion, the question is this: Who's next for him? It didn't take long for WBA, IBF and interim WBC champion Gennady Golovkin's name to come up. HBO's Max Kellerman asked Canelo about GGG after the fight.

Per Golden Boy Promotions, Canelo wants GGG to bring it on:

NBA Hall of Famer and known boxing fan Earvin "Magic" Johnson would love to see Canelo and GGG clash:

That bout would represent the biggest challenge of Golovkin's career. He's widely considered to be the most feared fighter in the sport. The fact that Canelo is seemingly willing to risk it all against the hard-punching Kazakh says something about the new champion's heart.

Hopefully, he makes good on his word, and we'll learn of an agreement and date sometime in 2016. For now, Canelo has earned the right to celebrate his world title.

Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter.

On Saturday night from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, one of the last big fights of the year will take place in the sport of boxing. Miguel "Junito" Cotto (40-4, 33 KO) will take on Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KO).

The now-vacant WBC middleweight title will be on the line for Alvarez. Even with the title on the line for only Alvarez, there's still plenty at stake. Namely, this is yet another chapter in the Puerto Rican-Mexican boxing rivalry.

Cotto is the only Puerto Rican fighter to win world titles in four different weight classes. Alvarez is without question the biggest active Mexican star in the sport. From a 2015 standpoint, this is the biggest fight that could be made under the rivalry's parameters.

When: Saturday, November 21, at 9 p.m. ET

Where: Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas

TV: HBO pay-per-view

Live Stream: BoxNation

Cotto was previously the WBC champion, but he was stripped of the title earlier in the week when he refused to pay $1.1 million in sanctioning fees to the WBC. If Cotto wins, the belt would either remain vacant, or interim champion, and current WBA and IBF kingpin, Gennady Golovkin could be elevated to official title holder.

Don't bet on that scenario taking place. Canelo will win.

This is essentially a junior middleweight bout as it is being contested at a 155-pound catchweight. Neither man has ever fought at the 160-pound weight limit for the division.

That said, Canelo will not be taken out of his comfort zone for this fight the way he was when he had to make 152 pounds to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013. This should be the easiest weight cut he's had in his career.

At 5'9", Canelo will enjoy a two-inch height advantage and a three-inch edge in reach. Cotto stands 5'7" with a 67" reach compared to Canelo's 70" measurement from armpit to fist.

Canelo is traditionally a slow starter. Expect Cotto to try to come out fast and perhaps get Canelo hurt, or at least down on the scorecards early. Alvarez's jab will be key in stemming the tide.

He should be able to keep Cotto away from his midsection, which has become a major focus of the Puerto Rican's attack since bringing in Freddie Roach as a trainer. Behind the jab, opportunities to land power shots should open up.

By the late rounds, Canelo should be the fresher fighter, and he should be able to parlay that into a unanimous-decision victory and his first world title in the middleweight division.

Saturday's clash between Miguel Cotto and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is perhaps the biggest fight in boxing since Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s retirement, and due largely to that notion, both combatants will be compensated quite handsomely.  

According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission (via ESPN.com's Dan Rafael), Cotto will make a purse of $15 million, while Alvarez is set to bring home $5 million. In addition to that, Canelo figures to earn even more based on revenue from Mexican television.

Although it can be argued the 25-year-old Alvarez is a bigger international star than the 35-year-old Cotto, the latter is the champion, and he will defend both the Lineal and The Ring Middleweight Championships.

The World Boxing Council Middleweight title will be on the line as well, but Cotto will be forced to vacate it if he wins. Per Rafael, the WBC released a statement regarding the decision, and while it didn't provide a specific reason, reports suggest that the Puerto Rican star refused to pay a $300,000 sanctioning fee:

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 (Roc Nation Sports) did not agree to comply with the WBC rules and 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 it has withdrawn recognition of Miguel Cotto as WBC world middleweight champion.

It can be argued the WBC situation takes some shine away from the massive fight, but it certainly didn't seem to impact Cotto's payday.

The 40-4 Cotto has lost bouts to Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in the past, and taking on Canelo promises to be one of the biggest challenges of his career.

Alvarez is an impressive 45-1-1 with his only loss coming at the hands of Mayweather. His star faded a bit after that loss, as evidenced by where his purse stands in comparison to Cotto's, but the Mexican fan favorite will have a golden opportunity to reach the top of the sport once again Saturday.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

If you saw this coming on Dec. 1, 2012, give yourself a hand.

Because that night at Madison Square Garden—as he officially lost nine, nine and 11 rounds to a particularly pedestrian Austin Trout—an already 32-year-old Miguel Cotto was roughly as close to boxing’s main stage as Lindsey Graham is to the White House.

Yet somehow, precisely 1,085 nights later, he’ll enter a ring as the A-side of a promotion with a guy—Canelo Alvarez—labeled by ESPN as the 10th-best fighter on the planet.

With apologies to Al Michaels, “Do you believe in miracles?” feels like an understatement.

Cotto defers all renaissance credit to Freddie Roach, the mercurial trainer with whom he joined forces three-and-a-half years after getting beaten senseless by Roach’s other top charge, Manny Pacquiao.

“Freddie and I create a good chemistry. I feel rejuvenated in every aspect of my work,” Cotto said, in the initial edition of HBO’s 24/7 fight preview series. “He is the best thing to ever happen in my career.”

Roach, meanwhile, completes the mutual admiration society by deferring back to the fighter.

“I think the real reason is that he rededicated himself,” Roach said. “He’s a better fighter now than he’s ever been because he has a coach that he can trust, and I have a fighter that I can trust.”

Still, while the Puerto Rican has been special in dispatching three post-Trout foes with barely 17 rounds of exertion, the sheer unlikelihood of the turnaround prompts some to keep giving it the sniff test.

After all, Delvin Rodriguez had been a .500 fighter for three years heading into his Cotto match, while gimpy middleweight kingpin Sergio Martinez was inactive for 14 months and Aussie pretender Daniel Geale hadn’t lasted three rounds in a challenge of fellow 160-pound claimant Gennady Golovkin.

“I believe he has gotten back to what made him great, and you can credit Freddie for that,” said Kevin Rooney Jr., director of public relations for DiBella Entertainment and son of Mike Tyson’s ex-trainer. “He's believing in himself again and has gotten back to fighting in that aggressive style that he fought in when he was tearing through the ranks coming up. That being said, though, the fighters he has faced have also enabled him to look sensational. Delvin and Geale weren't in his league, and a prime Sergio Martinez—who fought Chavez—would have totally had his way.”

Neither Rodriguez nor Geale have won since facing Cotto, and Martinez retired 12 months later.

Cotto won 32 fights and two title belts in his first seven years as a pro, but had lost four times in four years—two by brutal stoppage, two by wide decision—before hitching up to Roach’s wagon in 2013.

Like Rooney, Tom Loeffler—managing director of Golovkin’s promoter—sees both sides, too.

“He seems dramatically different with his new training regime with Freddie Roach,” he said. “(But it’s) hard to judge based solely on opposition, as Sergio clearly was not 100 percent with his knee injuries and Geale at 157 was definitely weakened by the weight drain.”

As for the oddsmakers, they’re not putting their money where Cotto’s revival is.

Alvarez is a definitive favorite, meaning it’ll take a $305 wager on him to make a $100 profit at Odds Shark. A $100 outlay on Cotto, though, would yield a $275 profit in the event of an upset.

Cotto, incidentally, brought in $175 for a $100 bet on him as an underdog to Martinez.

Count Randy Gordon, however, among those expecting the older man to once again falter.

“He beat average Delvin Rodriguez and followed by facing broken-down Sergio Martinez,” the former Ring Magazine editor-in-chief said. “Then came a fight against weight-drained Daniel Geale. Cotto is a junior middleweight at best. I have to figure he will give a typical gutsy Cotto performance on Saturday, but in reality, he is in way over his head.”

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.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.