It’s Mexico vs. Puerto Rico with plenty at stake for both men as Canelo Alvarez meets Miguel Cotto for the title of lineal middleweight champion at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Forget that Cotto was stripped of his WBC title this week; the winner of this 155-pound catch-weight contest will be recognized as the middleweight champion regardless. Alvarez has rebounded from his September 2013 loss to Floyd Mayweather in impressive fashion, earning successive triumphs over Alfredo Angulo, Erislandy Lara and James Kirkland in his last three outings. Cotto, meanwhile, has experienced a late-career resurgence under the guidance of new trainer Freddie Roach and has posted dominant victories against Sergio Martinez and Daniel Geale in his last two appearances.