By Jake Donovan
Four days before the opening bell sounds, the biggest fight to grace the second half of the 2015 boxing schedule finally has a fresh story line.
It’s not an uplifting theme, as the World Boxing Council (WBC) has chosen to derecognize Miguel Cotto as its middleweight champion. The Mexico-based sanctioning body made the announcement Tuesday, coming days before his November 21 showdown with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, which airs live on HBO Pay-Per-View from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
“After several weeks of communications, countless attempts and good faith time extensions trying to preserve the fight as a WBC World Championship, Miguel Cotto and his promotion did not agree to comply with the WBC Rules & Regulations, while Saúl Alvarez has agreed to do so,” noted WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman. “Accordingly, the WBC must rule on the matter prior to the fight.
“The WBC hereby announces that effective immediately has withdrawn recognition of Miguel Cotto as WBC World Middleweight Champion. If Saul “Canelo” Alvarez wins the fight against Cotto, he will be recognized as the WBC middleweight world champion.”
The ruling is the equivalent to a defending champion missing weight at the pre-fight weigh-in, which would result in the title being vacated and stake only for the challenger. In this case, Cotto – who remains the recognized World lineal middleweight champion – is stripped of the title, while Alvarez is still in position to win it.
Of course, with a win will come honoring any and all conditions that come with accepting said title.
Despite the WBC being cryptic in its details, the general sense is that Cotto was noncommittal in agreeing to the sanctioning fee terms as well as honoring his mandatory obligations should he come out victorious this weekend. The boxing superstar from Puerto Rico was granted consecutive optional title defenses despite the fact that Gennady Golovkin is due a title shot.
The knockout artist from Kazakhstan became the mandatory challenger (although recognized as WBC interim titlist, in addition to WBA Super, IBO and IBF middleweight champion) with a two-round blitzing of Marco Antonio Rubio last October. He agreed to allow Cotto to face Daniel Geale in an optional defense in June, nor did his team stand in the way when negotiations were reopened for a mouthwatering showdown with Alvarez.
Instead, Golovkin pursued a unification bout with David Lemieux, scoring an 8th round knockout in their October 17 clash. The win gave Golovkin his 3rd belt in addition to WBC interim title status.
Cotto honored the terms of his HBO agreement earlier this year, with the network greenlighting the Geale fight on the condition he next face Alvarez. However, the WBC’s stipulation in agreeing to sanction a second consecutive optional defense was that the winner next faces Golovkin.
It remains to be seen if Alvarez – should he win on Saturday – honors such an agreement. According to the WBC, he and his promoter Golden Boy Promotions were at least willing to play (and pay for) the game.
The same cannot be said of Cotto, though he remains lineal champion. Even at that, both fighters have drawn criticism for their recent string of catchweight bouts - Cotto has yet to enter a fight with a 160 lb. limit despite this being his third straight at middleweight.
Still, Cotto is the recognized World middleweight champion by those who honor true lineage. His title win over Sergio Martinez last June continues a straight path tracing back to Bernard Hopkins' unificaiton bout over Felix Trinidad in 2001 to reestablish championship lineage in the middleweight division.
For those who find it too difficult to only recognize one champ per division and instead put stock in the sanctioning bodies, Cotto is now a former four-division champ.
“The WBC’s decision is premised on the fact that Miguel Cotto and his camp are not willing to abide by the governing WBC Rules & Regulations, and the specific conditions the WBC established to sanction the fight,” Sulaiman pointed out. “Simply put: they are not willing to respect the very same rules and conditions which applied to Cotto becoming WBC champion.
“The WBC wishes Miguel Cotto the best of luck as we truly regret the course of action which led to them taking such decision.”
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox