Canelo Doesn't Consider Cotto's Age a Disadvantage

By Keith Idec

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez has three more fights on his professional boxing record than Miguel Cotto, even though Alvarez didn’t make his debut until 4½ years after Cotto.

Nevertheless, Alvarez has a significant age advantage over Cotto as they head toward their highly anticipated middleweight championship showdown Nov. 21 in Las Vegas. The 25-year-old Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) is nearly 10 full years younger than Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs), who has been stopped twice and endured numerous grueling fights during his 14-year pro career.

Mexico’s Alvarez doesn’t think the revitalized Cotto is past his prime, though, and says he hasn’t thought at all about Cotto’s age while preparing for their HBO Pay-Per-View main event at Mandalay Bay Events Center ($59.99-$69.99). Puerto Rico’s Cotto, his country’s first four-division champion, turned 35 on Oct. 29.

“Age is not my focus,” Alvarez said through a translator on a conference call Tuesday. “My focus is on great preparation for Cotto. Age is not an issue.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.