Roach: Cotto Told Me To Let Canelo Rematch Go For Now

By Carlos Boogs

Freddie Roach, trainer of former four division world champion Miguel Cotto, said he spoke to his fighter regarding the idea of pursuing a rematch with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in 2016 - and the Puerto Rican star advised him to hang back for the moment.

Canelo won a twelve round unaimous decision over Cotto last month to capture the vacant WBC middleweight championship at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Roach is convinced his fighter did enough to secure the victory and he wanted to pursue an immediate rematch.

"I had us winning by two rounds," Roach said. "I asked Miguel 'tell me what to do [on pushing for a rematch]' and he said 'just let it go for a while and let's just get our head together.' When we decide on what to do next, we'll all gang up and go the same way."

While they fought for the middleweight title, the fight took place at a catch-weight of 155-pounds. Roach says the bout became very diffuclt and they were unable to execute certain aspects of their strategy because Canelo became a much bigger fighter once he rehydrated. Roach admits he underestimated the size difference just a little bit. Canelo is known for gaining a lot of weight between the weigh-in and the actual moment that he steps in the ring.

"I came up with a good game plan and he followed it well. We went out there to outbox this guy because we knew he was going to be too big to bang with. [Canelo] gained like 30 pounds after the weigh-in. He went from this skinny guy to a giant. I would have like dto see [Cotto] press him a little more but the thing is it was just too difficult because his size and strength was too much to back him up. He backed us up a bit, but backing us up doesnt score points," Roach said.