By Miguel Rivera
Veteran trainer Virgil Hunter, who works with such fighters as Andre Ward, Amir Khan and Andre Berto, is picking WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto to defeat Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on November 21 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Hunter is not impressed with Canelo's level of opposition in the last few years. The two fighters have several common opponents, like Shane Mosley, Alfonso Gomez, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Austin Trout.
Cotto defeated much younger versions of Mosley and Gomez. They had their respective fights with Mayweather and Trout within the same timeframe. Cotto did much better with Mayweather. And although Cotto lost to Trout and Canelo managed to defeat him, the Mexican had his fair share of struggles in that fight.
Cotto's trainer Freddie Roach has criticized Canelo's opposition in recent interviews - pointing to wins over undersized or declining fighters like Kermit Cintron, Carlos Baldomir, Matthew Hatton, Jose Cotto, Josesito Lopez and a very inactive James Kirkland.
"I think it's an interesting fight, and I also think Cotto is the one who has the advantage. The reason why I think Cotto is going to win is because he has the skills, he has style and Freddie Roach has been doing a great job with him, and he's not the same Cotto that he was long ago," Hunter told ESPN Deportes.
"The greats have been characterized by facing the best of their time, and Canelo has not done that. There is no doubt that he is a good fighter and he has done some good things at his age, but he hasn't faced opponents who would pass as the best."
