By Francisco Salazar

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez sure did not look over his head on Saturday night, did he?

Nor did he have to follow a certain blueprint from a previous fight.

Whatever game plan he had mapped out in preparation for Miguel Cotto mostly worked before a loud and partisan crowd of 11,274 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

With the win, Alvarez wins the vacant WBC middleweight title and improves to 46-1-1, 32 KOs. Cotto drops to 40-5, 33 KOs.

The WBC title was in Cotto's hands less than a week ago before it was stripped by the governing body, reportedly due to Cotto not paying the ($300,000) sanctioning fee and step-aside money (reportedly $800,000) to Gennady Golovkin.

With Alvarez only eligible to win the title, it was pride and another significant payday Cotto was fighting for.

Much of the promotion also centered on the fight being another chapter in the long-standing rivalry between fighters between Mexico and Puerto Rico. Alvarez had the crowd support in his favor and seemed to feed off of that, from the ring walk until the final bell sounded.

While Cotto had a decent opening round, Alvarez did well over the next two rounds, putting the popular fighter from Puerto Rico on the defensive.

Cotto, who had his three-fight winning streak snapped, did well in backing Alvarez up, utilizing jabs that backed seemed to throw Alvarez off at times.

Alvarez did well beginning the second half of the fight. While Cotto had closed the distance between the two, Alvarez seems to land the telling blows. Those hard power punches seemed to take any steam Cotto had on his punches.

A left hook seemed to stun Cotto in the eighth round, but it was Cotto who began to find some success during the ninth and tenth rounds.

Both fighters had their moments in the 12th round, where both landed thudding punches during the many exchanges. It seemed as though Alvarez's punches had more effect during the middle of the round.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Alvarez, 117-111, 118-110, and 119-109.

The scorecards seemed more one-sided the fight reflected. Most of the media at ringside had Alvarez winning fight, but by closer scorecards. Boxingscene.com scored the bout 115-113 for Alvarez.

One factor Alvarez was able to do so well was the improved lateral and head movement. Aside from mostly jabs, Cotto was not able to consistently land many punches flush to the head.

Cotto threw 629 punches, landing 129 of them (29 percent), while Alvarez landed 155 punches out of the 484 he threw (32 percent).

"I have a lot of respect for Miguel," said Alvarez after the fight. "He is a great champion and a great fighter. We knew going into this fight that it would be a difficult journey, but I feel that I was the faster and stronger fighter tonight. I wasn’t hurt by his punches."

"I was fully prepared for what Cotto was going to do in the ring, whether that was take a (defensive) stance or be the aggressor."

Cotto walked out of the ring without any comment.

With the WBC middleweight title in hand, Alvarez has numerous options, but the one fight many boxing fans seem to clamor for is against Gennady Golovkin, who was sitting at ringside.

At the post-fight press conference, Oscar De La Hoya, Alvarez's promoter, did state a fight will be made between Golovkin and Alvarez. He did not specify when, though the second half of 2016 is a viable option.

De La Hoya also said at the press conference that he wants Alvarez to fight in May in conjunction with the 'Cinco De Mayo' holiday or in September for the Mexican Independence holiday.

Alvarez seems to welcome a fight with Golovkin, but it has to take place at the weight Alvarez will set. In several interviews, he's made it clear that Golovkin would have to face him at a catch-weight of 155-pounds, which has been his preferred weight for the last four fights.

"I’m not afraid of any fighter. (Golovkin) GGG is a great fighter, and he is my friend. I have respect for him, but if we do fight, it’s going to be at my weight class. I’m the champion, I don’t have to do what he wants."

Stay tuned.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing