Seasoned Puerto Rican fighter Miguel Cotto hits his Mexican challenger Saul "Canelo" Alvarez even before their Nov. 21 match at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

World Boxing Council middleweight champion Cotto, while being displeased with comments from the other camp, remarked that Alvarez still has so much to prove and even "looked like a rookie" on his 2013 fight against the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr., Boxing Scene reported.

"Freddie Roach is a coach who can easily be the 'Trainer of the Year' and he's done wonderful things in my career. The only things Canelo can say about Reynoso is that he had 42 fights [with him], that he was undefeated at one time, and when he went up against his first major challenge [with Floyd Mayweather] he looked like a rookie. And with that simple matter, then [we have to ask] what is their pedigree?" the usually silent 34-year-old boxer told El Vocero, as quoted by Boxing Scene.

"Junito" reportedly aimed those statements towards the other side when he became irked of hearing about him having hard-to-please demands during negotiations and with Freddie Roach's capability as his coach being questioned.

Cotto observed that the other side looked friendly during their promotional events, despite their comments, making them "cowards."

"The man who takes advantage of the absence of his opponent, in order to open his mouth, is a coward," Cotto shared.

"Canelo's" loss to Mayweather

The 25-year-old Mexican warrior only bowed to Mayweather, who remained blemish-free with 49-0 win-loss record after a victory on Sept. 12 against Andre Berto in Las Vegas.

Although "Cotto" may not have been impressed with "Canelo's" performance against Mayweather, it was bound to be so, as described by Ishe Smith, given the unbeaten boxer's defensive skills he also used on the eight division champ Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao.

"It was Manny [Pacquiao]; dusted him away, made it look easy...He made Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez look like an amateur," Smith told Fight Hype, as quoted by ThaBoxingVoice.

However, "Canelo," who crushed James Kirkland via a third round KO in May, per BoxRec, has moved past that and did not let himself be broken by the incident, even though it was his first loss.

Antonio Margarito, who clashed against Cotto twice, even put his bet on "Canelo" to win over Cotto in November, given what he saw in the younger boxer over the recent years, a separate Boxing Scene reported.

"Unlike many other people, I think Canelo has indeed improved. We've seen him get better and I think this fight comes at a time that suits him. He is young, strong, fast," Margarito said.

Related