Miguel Cotto
IN PHOTO: Miguel Cotto lands a punch on Sergio Martinez in the 8th round of their WBC middleweight title bout at Madison Square Garden in New York June 7, 2014. Cotto defeated Martinez in the 9th round. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The next much-anticipated boxing match since the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is the bout between Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, according to retired six-time boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya. He believes that the Cotto-Canelo fight will bring a thrilling excitement that boxing fans failed to witness in the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout.

“The fight between Cotto and Canelo is huge,” Golden Boy promoter De La Hoya said via Ring TV. “It's the biggest fight in boxing after Mayweather-Pacquiao, but the difference is that with Cotto-Canelo, you are guaranteed action.”

Cotto has returned to the ring for the first time in almost a year since knocking out Sergio Martinez in the 10th round at Madison Square Garden. On June 6, Cotto showed no rust in an easy win against Australian Danny Geale at the Barclays Centre in New York. He knocked the Australian native down twice in the bout to defend his World Boxing Council, Lineal, and The Ring middleweight titles.

After Cotto defeated Geale, he told HBO commentator Max Kellerman that he is more than willing to square off with Alvarez. “Let’s do it,” Cotto said. According to the 34-year-old Puerto Rican champion, he would want to spend time with his family in Los Angeles before he starts his training camp for the Canelo fight.

Both Cotto (40-4-0, 33 knockouts) and Canelo (45-1-1, 33 knockouts) are on a three-fight winning streak. They are currently two of boxing’s dominant fighters. Canelo is coming off a third-round knockout victory over former light middleweight champion 31-year-old James Kirkland, which took place on May 9 in Houston, Texas.

For months, there have been talks that Cotto will take the fight with Canelo. However, the negotiations didn’t come to fruition. He was reportedly not satisfied with the proposed payout that he was going to get off the Canelo fight. Cotto has previously received the same criticism when he fought Martinez back in June 2014. Martinez accused Cotto for being such a diva because the Puerto Rican four-division world champion was making “diva” demands everywhere such as who will enter the ring or who will be introduced first.

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