Finally, the biggest fight of the year is a done deal.
As HBO’s Jim Lampley put it this past July, we have somewhat of a four-man tournament taking place in the Middleweight division this fall.
The official announcement of the super fight between WBC and RING Middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and former lineal Junior Middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, which will take place on November 21 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, completes the second half of this imagined four-man match-up.
The 12-round fight will headline an HBO PPV card jointly promoted by Roc Nation Sports and Golden Boy Promotions, and takes place a month after another major fight in the Middleweight division: the WBA and IBF unification fight between Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux.
The two fights will demonstrate who the two biggest fighters in the division are, though there are no promises that the two winners will fight each other after.
Cotto, 34, is the Puerto Rican Middleweight champion who devastatingly took the lineal crown from Sergio Martinez in June of 2014.
One year later, helped by Freddie Roach’s tutelage and a catchweight that badly drained his opponent, Cotto destroyed Daniel Geale in exciting fashion to keep his 160-pound crown.
Since losing his lineal 154-pound crown to Floyd Mayweather in 2014, Alvarez, 25, has bounced back with wins over Alfredo Angulo, Erislandy Lara and James Kirkland.
The Mexican superstar has said that he does not plan to move up to Middleweight just yet, but he is fighting for the Middleweight title–though at 155 pounds–and it may affect his future decision.
“It’s an honor to face someonr like Cotto and I’m sure that it’ll be great”, said Alvarez in his announcement of the fight, which was the result of several weeks of tough negotiations.
So, now that the deal is set, who wins?
Does Cotto still have the skill to outwit his younger opponent? Or will Alvarez’s youth and strength be too much?
Also, with regards to the future of the Middleweight division, will the winner dare to take on the winner of Golovkin-Lemieux?
