By Miguel Rivera
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach is confident that his boxer, WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, is physically superior to his upcoming opponent Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
Cotto will defend against Canelo on November 21st from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. HBO Pay-Per-View will carry the event.
Canelo is younger, some view him as the favorite to win the contest and many are calling him the next superstar to lead boxing in the wake of Floyd Mayweather's retirement.
The Puerto Rican star is the first boxer from his country capture world titles in four weight divisions. Cotto (40-4, 33KOs) is not worried about the gap in age with Canelo (45-1-1, 32 KO).
Cotto is training right now with Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California.
"I think after 14 years of my career, the public knows what to expect," Cotto said to Stephen Rivera. "Do not expect anything less than that on November 21."
"When we started this training came, I came to follow the instructions from Freddie. And so I've kept to that. I've only been focused on my preparation and not on what Canelo [does or says]. In my career I've never watched videos of my opponent. I come to the gym to work, and Freddie is the one who takes care of the technical and tactical aspects."
Roach feels the conditioning difference alone is enough of an edge to beat Canelo.
"Cotto beats him on conditioning alone. We're going to take him into deep waters and then take him out in the late rounds," Roach said.
