By Edward Chaykovsky

Showtime Championship Boxing analyst Al Bernstein is picking Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) to unseat WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) on November 21st at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The bout, scheduled for a catch-weight of 155-pounds, is headlining an HBO Pay-Per-View event.

Bernstein is picking Canelo due to his youth, his edge in strength, precision with his punches, and he also sees Cotto's new style - crafted by trainer Freddie Roach - as being his downfall in this fight.

He says Canelo will likely stop him "before the eight round."

If Cotto can take Canelo into the later rounds, where the Mexican superstar faded in certain fights, then Bernstein gives Cotto a shot to win.

"I think Canelo is probably going to win it because Cotto is now an attacker and I think Canelo is younger, he’s a little stronger and I think he’s gonna be a little bit more precise with his punches. Now if Cotto can take him into the later rounds, he can certainly win the fight because Canelo always has issues in the later rounds. I don’t know if that gonna happen," Bernstein told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.

"I believe that Canelo is going to win this fight, however I think it’s gonna be a fire fight and it’s gonna be very entertaining. Not to suggest that Cotto can’t win it, he certainly could."

The winner has been ordered by the World Boxing Council to make a mandatory defense against WBA/IBO/IBF middleweight champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs). Regardless of the winner, Bernstein is picking Golovkin to beat either man - with Canelo having more success.

"I think Golovkin beats both of them but Cotto is now an attacker and I don’t know if he has the power but he’s gonna walk into a lot of punches from Golovkin. Canelo, while I don’t think he would beat Golovkin, I think he stands a better chance of getting something done from the outside and landing some punches, because his skill set is a little bit different than Cotto’s. By a hair I might say Canelo could give him a little bit more trouble, and Canelo is by nature the bigger fighter," Bernstein said.