The Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada plays host to what will most likely be the second biggest fight of 2015 as Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto (40-4) takes on Mexico’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1) this coming Saturday, November 21st. The sport books have a had a line up on the fight for several weeks, but as we head into fight week, Alvarez is a (-300) favorite, with Cotto returning (+250). the 12 round bout is for the WBC’s World Middleweight title, and the over/under is set at 11 1/2, with the over paying at (-185) and the under returning (+160). This would be the biggest fight of the year without a doubt if it weren’t for the Pacquiao versus Mayweather financial fiesta and pugilistic fiasco. Alvarez is viewed as the young lion, and in terms of his own motivation, a resounding victory for alvarez here would likely leave him among the top three draws in all of the sport (along with Pacquiao and Klitschko right now). Cotto is a respected warrior and he will be a feather in the cap of “Canelo”. Cotto is viewed as past his prime, and as a fighter who has been through many wars. There is a wide split in opinion for this fight, as there are many who think Cotto should be a lot closer than a (+250) underdog. Cotto is battle tested and he has appeared to be invigorated by his training with Freddie Roach the last couple of fights. He first started with Roach when he fought Middleweight titlist Sergio Martinez, and Cotto put on a scintillating performance that saw his drop Martinez several times in round one, setting the town for a dominant 10th round stoppage. Since then Cotto has gotten a lot of criticism because the win over Martinez left him the WBC Middleweight title, but Cotto is not a true Middleweight. He fought Daniel Geale at a catch-weight and this match with “Canelo” is at a catchweight. Alvarez is slightly bigger and has a slight reach advantage, and how Alvarez is a much more natural Middleweight. But this is the first fight for Alvarez as heavy as 155 lbs, and Alvarez has not competed as a Middleweight before. Though at this point in his career arguing that he has had weak opposition is moot, however Cotto is certainly on of the top two fighters he has faced, along with Mayweather. The line was at (-320) for Alvarez a fewdays ago, and has come down since to (-300), and it will certainly change again before fight time. The main thing to keep in mind here is that there are many in boxing cricles that think Cotto is a very live underdog. It will be intersting to see if the line closes as we head into fight week.
