By Keith Idec
Daniel Jacobs is impressed with Miguel Cotto’s comeback, but he still thinks Canelo Alvarez will beat him Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Jacobs, who’s training for his own middleweight title fight against Peter Quillin, expects to see a fresher, stronger Alvarez when the 25-year-old Mexican star faces the 35-year-old Cotto in their HBO Pay-Per-View main event at Mandalay Bay Events Center ($59.99-$69.99).
“I think Canelo wins that fight,” Jacobs told BoxingScene.com. “Cotto’s a seasoned vet, but with the youth and Canelo coming up in weight he’s gonna be stronger because he had weight issues before, making 154. So it’s gonna be a breath of fresh air for him coming up to middleweight and he’ll be feeling stronger and faster.”
The contracted catch weight for Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) and Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) is 155 pounds, five below the usual middleweight limit. Regardless, Jacobs anticipates a competitive fight because Cotto has appeared rejuvenated during each of his three fights with International Boxing Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach in his corner – TKO victories over Delvin Rodriguez, then-WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez and former middleweight title-holder Daniel Geale.
“I think it’s impressive,” Jacobs said. “Any time you come back from a setback [against Austin Trout], especially stopping the No. 1 guy at the time in the middleweight division [Martinez], it’s impressive. A lot of people criticize him, but he vows that Freddie Roach is the best thing to ever happen to him and it’s showing up until somebody proves him wrong.”
Two weeks after Alvarez and Cotto go at it, the 28-year-old Jacobs (30-1, 27 KOs) will defend his WBA middleweight title against Quillin (32-0-1, 23 KOs), a 32-year-old former WBO champion, in an all-Brooklyn battle Dec. 5 at Barclays Center (Showtime).
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.