Boxing News 2015: Miguel Cotto vs Canelo Alvarez Fight is the Biggest Possible Bout, Says WBC President
World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman is calling for Miguel Cotto and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez to finalize their long-awaited fight because it is the biggest possible fight in the coming months.
Sulaiman said that the Cotto-Alvarez fight will also appeal to boxing fans as it will revive the rivalry between Mexican and Puerto Rican boxer. He thinks the Cotto-Alvarez bout will be the biggest Puerto Rico-Mexico match since the fight between legends Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. and Hector Camacho.
"I think that fight is the most important in the rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico since Julio Cesar Chavez and Hector 'Macho' Camacho fought, and for me it's one of the biggest in the history of the rivalry," Sulaiman told ESPN Deportes via BoxingScene.
While nothing is finalized at this point, Sulaiman expressed confidence that the fight will happen. Based on what he is hearing, the two sides are already in deep talks for the fight, but he still reiterated that reigning World Boxing Association and International Boxing Organization middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin should cooperate.
Golovkin, who holds a perfect 33-0 record with 30 knockout victories, is the mandatory challenger to Cotto's WBC middleweight title and has to agree to step aside for the Puerto Rican to keep his title. Sulaiman sees no problem, though, as he is confident the fight will push through either in October or November.
"That fight has been discussed for over a year and they are close to reaching an agreement, of course with the support of Gennady Golovkin," Sulaiman said of the Cotto-Alvarez fight. "Cotto looked tremendous, Canelo also looked tremendous, that fight is going to happen this year, and it is up to the promoters.
Cotto and Alvarez were engaged in deep talks for a fight earlier this year, but Canelo's camp eventually pulled out of the negotiation after not getting an answer before the deadline that they set.
Sulaiman said earlier this month that now is the perfect time to stage the fight because both fighters are coming off big victories in their recent fights.
Cotto scored a fourth-round knockout win against Daniel Geale on Saturday night for his first successful defense of the WBC middleweight title since winning it against Sergio Martinez in June last year.
Alvarez, on the other hand, improved his record to 45-1 with 32 knockouts after stopping James Kirkland in their junior middleweight showdown on May 9 at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
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