Boxing News: Canelo can't beat Miguel Cotto, says Freddie Roach

Freddie Roach believes WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto could beat Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in their Nov. 21 bout at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Oddsmakers have Canelo as the favourite to win the fight at 3-1, but Roach is convinced that the Mexican challenger could not defeat Puerto Rican champ.

Roach, trainer of Cotto and former eight-division titlist Manny Pacquiao, is confident his fighter would come up as the younger man come fight night in November. The seven-time BWA of America Trainer of the Year Awardee said he would put at stake both of his houses for Cotto over Canelo.

“He’s okay, but he’s not going to beat my guy – I promise you,” Roach told Boxing Scene. “At 3-1 [odds], I’m going to be both my houses.”

However, trainer and former boxer Roger Mayweather thinks Canelo would be too big for Cotto, who may get his “a—whooped” in their bout. Roger, uncle of now retired and undefeated champ Floyd Mayweather Jr, told Hustle Boss that Canelo, standing at 5-foot-9, would only use his weight advantage to fend off a smaller 5-foot-7 Cotto.

Dan Ambrose of Boxing News 24 wrote that Cotto could not stand in front of a fighter as big as Canelo, whom he cited as a boxer with an ability to drain down huge amounts of weight to fight in weight classes that are not designed for the Mexican boxer’s light heavyweight size. Ambrose added that Cotto is in dire position if he tries to slug it out with Canelo in their 12-round boxing match.

“With there not being a rehydration clause in the contract to keep Canelo from ballooning up to 175 to 180 for the fight, it puts Cotto in the position where he’s going to need to use movement and pot shots to keep out of the way of Canelo at all times,” Ambrose wrote. “The last thing that Cotto needs is to be standing in front of the tank-like Canelo looking to slug it out with him in a primitive fashion.”

The Canelo-Cotto bout will be at a catch-weight of 155 pounds. It will also be the biggest Mexico vs Puerto Rico showdown since 1999, when Oscar De La Hoya fought Felix Trinidad.

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