Photo by Sergio Solis/RBRBoxing
Middleweight champion Miguel Cotto completely annihilated Australia’s Daniel Geale on Saturday, June 6, 2015. The HBO card was televised out of Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Cotto stopped Geale at 1:28 into the fourth round of a scheduled 12-round bout. Geale, who met the canvas twice that night, seemed lifeless in the ring. He lacked power and was deficient in speed, making it an easy night for the Puerto Rican star who was making his first defense of his newly attained WBC title.
Training with decorated trainer Freddie Roach, Cotto has brought his record to 40-4, 33 KOs.
So what exactly is next for Cotto?
Most boxing fans want the obvious, Cotto versus Mexican Star, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1-1 32 KOs). This would be the biggest fight, business and action wise, since Cinco de Flop-o’s, Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao.Essentially, many fans consider this fight to have been the “hype of the year” rather than the “fight of the year,” because with all due respect to both fighters, fans did not feel they received their money’s worth.
However, fans are sure to get quite the showdown with a Cotto vs. Canelo matchup. Bringing on the classic Puerto Rico vs Mexico rivalry, both Cotto and Canelo are coming off thrilling victories,but are both at very different points in their careers. With both men being explosive fighters; the action would be inevitable.
Alvarez, the 24 year old, hailing out of Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico has been rummaging through the super welterweight division, destroying his opponents, one after another with the exception of the aforementioned Mayweather.
Canelo has consistently showed progression throughout every fight. The freckled young champion has shown to have immense power and the ability to put lethal combinations together with overwhelming speed.
We have seen him demolish various opponents, such as Kermit Cintron, Alfonso Gomez, Josesito Lopez, Alfredo Angulo and the most recent being James Kirkland, who Canelo took out in an astonishing three rounds.
Alvarez, who has now been a professional boxer for nine years, has also met Miguel Cotto’s older brother, Jose Cotto. In 2010, as a young pro, Canelo fought a 10 rounder with Jose, where he was stunned along the ropes but put forth his own set of hard punches and was able to score a ninth round TKO over the older fighter. Racking up the names under his belt, Canelo has been making a lot of noise to say the very least.
Although Cotto looked exceptional in his fight against Geale, the question remains, will he look this good and be as effective against a younger and possibly stronger champion? Those are two things that Geale and Sergio Martinez were not.
The pros and cons for both fighters are evenly ratioed with the exception of a few things. Cotto being 10 years Canelo’s senior means two things, you have a seasoned veteran full of experience with elite opponents who is aging, but also a man who has nothing to lose. Being a four-time world champion, Canelo needs Cotto more than Cotto needs Canelo.
Cotto, who fought Geale at at a catchweight of 157 pounds, was asked about a future fight with Kazakhstan’s Gennady Golovkin, and said it would be taken into consideration after a fight with Canelo. He also stated to HBO’s Max Kellerman that he clearly wasn’t a middleweight.
So will Cotto continue to pull a Sugar Ray Robinson move and continue to fight for a belt that he is clearly too small for? Should he vacate and give actual middleweights a chance to shine as well?
Miguel Cotto, the A-side to either equation, regardless of his opponent being Canelo or Golovkin, is looking for the big bucks. Rumors have surfaced of negotiations for a late November bout with Alvarez, with the winner getting a mandatory fight with GGG.
Can the Roach-Cotto duo continue to have success with the rebirth of a post-Margarito Miguel Cotto or will Canelo add the other Cotto sibling to his victims list?
Stay with Round By Round Boxing for updates on the anticipated mega fight as they break.
Header photo by Sergio Solis/RBRBoxing
