Miguel Cotto is the premier Puerto Rican fighter in the sport of boxing, and assumed that mantle from Felix "Tito" Trinidad before him. Cotto's upcoming bout vs. Canelo Alvarez-which has not been officially announced yet-is the biggest between Puerto Rico and Mexico since Trinidad fought Oscar De La Hoya in 1999.
Cotto became the first Puerto Rican-born fighter to win four titles in four weight classes in 2013 when he beat Sergio Martinez for the WBC title, but Trinidad is doubting his countryman's chances against Alvarez.
"I wish the best to both but it's a very big possibility for Canelo to beat Cotto," Trinidad said. "If it was 157, or 158 it would be better for him [Cotto]. But at 160 and above it is best for Canelo." It has been reported that the fight has an agreed-upon catch weight of 155 pounds, so that might change Trinidad's opinion. However Trinidad's next point about recent opposition is stronger than his mention of actual weights.
"From what I've seen in recent fights Cotto has fought boxers who are not of the same quality as Canelo has had," Trinidad said. "Delvin Rodriguez is not an elite boxer. Martinez had injuries to both knees. Now comes the fight with [Daniel] Geale, who is dangerous at 160 and fought at 157. Those three pounds he knew would drain him, and then Geale went up a lot of pounds on the day of the fight but two days before the fight he was weak. He was not 100 percent."
Alvarez has been much busier than Cotto, fighting twice in 2014 in addition to a 2015 knockout of James Kirkland. In 2014 Alvarez pummeled Alfredo Angulo for a 10th-round TKO victory, and survived a controversial split decision vs. Erislandy Lara, one of the top technical boxers alive.
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