Canelo Alvarez beats Miguel Cotto by decision, wins middleweight title
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez” beat Miguel Cotto by unanimous decision Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, becoming the WBC world middleweight champion.
Alvarez, 25, opened aggressively as the fighters traded punches, getting the better of the early rounds and landing more powerful blows than his 35-year-old opponent. In the middle rounds, Cotto stayed active, landing jabs effectively, and kept things close. Neither fighter let up into the late part of the match, with Cotto gathering some energy but Canelo’s consistency giving him the scoring edge.
It took all 12 rounds, and Alvarez was ruled the winner by the judges, throwing and landing more punches.
Both boxers entered having won three straight fights. With the win, Alvarez claimed the vacant WBC world middleweight title that belonged to Cotto earlier this week.
• MANNIX: Cotto–Canelo Live Blog
Cotto was stripped of his middleweight belt earlier this week for noncompliance with WBC regulations, reportedly refusing to pay sanctioning fees for the fight.
The win moves Alvarez to 46–1–1 all time, and drops Cotto to 40–5. Alvarez's lone loss came against Floyd Mayweather in September 2013.
- Jeremy Woo
