Miguel Cotto, the WBC middleweight champion, is preparing for the biggest fight since Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s May 2 bout vs. Manny Pacquiao, and the biggest Puerto Rico vs. Mexico clash since 1999, against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. So of course, a name befitting the occasion had to stop by Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym.

Rapper and business mogul Jay z, the founder of Roc Nation Sports, visited his $55 million man as he prepares for arguably the biggest fight of his career. Cotto, 34, with a 40-4 record featuring 34 knockouts, is no stranger to big fights. He has taken on both Mayweather and Pacquiao, sold out Madison Square Garden repeatedly, and won titles in four weight classes. On Nov. 21, however, he fights for one last title – boxing’s biggest draw.3

Cotto Is Apparently Injuring His Sparring Partners

For years Cotto has been a bankable pay-per-view attraction, but he’s always been the “B-side” in his biggest fights. He was behind Cotto and Pacquiao in this respect, and behind Oscar De La Hoya before them. His June 2014 bout vs. Sergio Martinez was a minor disappointment, drawing 350,000 PPV buys, which is relatively high, but not approaching Mayweather numbers.

Alvarez’s last pay-per-view, a fight vs. Erislandy Lara, was close, generating around 300,000 buys. Boxing’s next big thing, Gennady Golovkin, debuted last weekend on PPV and pulled in around 150,000 buys in comparison. Cotto and Alvarez are boxing’s top attractions with Mayweather “retired,” and Pacquiao turning in a dud in his loss to him, so this fight is to become the sport’s A-side.

Cotto will be a big draw win or lose, as long as he’s not blown out by Alvarez. If he wins, however, he will be the biggest boxer in the world.

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