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By: William Holmes
Three fights and a concert were shown on the undercard before the start of the main event of the night between Canelo Alvarez and Miguel Cotto.
The undercard featured a snooze fest between Rigondeaux and Francisco and an action packed fight between Muira and Vargas, but the fight the fans in attendance wanted to see was between Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez.
Much had been made about the storied rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico in the sport of boxing, but most of the fans in attendance appeared to support Canelo Alvarez.
Three national anthems were sung before the start of the main event. The Mexican national anthem was sung first, followed by the Puerto Rican national anthem and finally the United States national anthem.
Canelo Alvarez came out to the ring first and was introduced first, Cotto entered the ring second and was announced second.
The following is a round by round recap of the middleweight fight between Canelo Alvarez (45-1) and Miguel Cotto (40-4).
Round 1:
Both boxers look like they are in incredible shape. Alvarezmisses with a wild lead left hook. Cotto lands an early jab and looks light on his feet. Cotto barely misses with a straight right hand. The crowd is chanting “Mexico” very loudly. Cotto lands a short jab. Cotto is showing good movement early and connects with another crisp jab. Alvarez lands a short right to the body, and Cotto answers with a straight right to the head. Alvarez lands a quick jab. Cotto’s left hook is active so far, and he lands another good jab to the face of Alvarez. Cotto is sharp with his jab, but Alvarez lands a good left hook followed by a right to the body. Cotto lands two punches to the body. Alvarez lands a straight right to the temple of Alvarez. Cotto throws and partially lands a triple jab. Cotto is showing good lateral movement in the first round. Alvarez lands a left hook and a left uppercut near the end of the round. 10-9 Cotto.
Round 2:
They both start in the center of the ring and Cotto lands a straight right over the jab of Alvarez. Alvarez lands a left hook to the body of Cotto and later misses with a right hook to the body. They exchange body punches and Alvarez appears to have landed the harder body shot. Another good jab by Cotto lands on Alvarez. The crowd can be heard cheering loudly for Cotto. Alvarez lands a hard left hook to the body followed by a right cross upstairs. Cotto throws a three punch combination in the middle of the ring. Alvarez is showing good head movement this round and connects with a left cross upstairs. Alvarez lands a jab at the nose of Cotto. Good counter right by Alvarez. Alvarez lands another good two punch counter on Cotto. Good straight right hand by Cotto near the end of the round. 10-9 Alvarez
19-19
Round 3:
Cotto lands two early jabs, but Alvarez answers with a lead left hook. Alvarez barely misses with a two punch combination. Cotto lands a good left hook to the body. Good left hook upstairs by Alvarez followed by a body shot. Alvarez lands a hard jab followed by a right to the body. Alvarez lands another right cross to the chin of Cotto. Alvarez lands a good two punch combination on Cotto. Cotto barely misses with a straight right hand. Alvarez lands a hard jab on Cotto. Alvarez with another heavy jab. Cotto’s left hook is partially blocked. Cotto lands three good jabs in a row. Cotto lands two more jabs on Alvarez. Hard right cross by Alvarez and Cotto follows that with a sharp left hook. 10-9 Alvarez.
29-28 Alvarez
Round 4:
Cotto lands an early straight right and follows it with a crisp jab. Alvarez lands two quick jabs and momentarily stuns Cotto with a hard right hand. Alvarez thuds a jab off the guard of Cotto and then moves out of the way of a multi punch combination from Cotto. Alvarez lands a good straight right upstairs and Cotto follows that with a good combination to the body. Cotto lands two more jabs and Alvarez answers with a jab of his own. Alvarez cracks a left hook on the side of Cotto’s head. Alvarez lands another counter left and they both land body shots at the same time. Alvarez lands two good body shots on Cotto. Alvarez lands an over the top straight right hand. Cotto lands two jabs and a body shot near end of the round. Close round, but 10-9 Alvarez.
39-37 Alvarez
Round 5:
Alvarez gets tagged from a lead left uppercut by Cotto, and Alvarez follows that with a right to the body. Alvarez not doing very well at cutting off the ring on Cotto. Cotto lands a left hook to the body of Alvarez. Alvarez cracks a straight right to the chin of Cotto. Alvarez lands a left uppercut to the chin of Cotto and Cotto takes it well. Cotto follows with a body attack and a flurry to the head of Alvarez, but Alvarez takes the punches well. Alvarez lands a right to the chin of Cotto and a left to the body. Alvarez punches Cotto with a two punch combination and follows it with an over the top straight right. Strong round for Alvarez. Alvarez lands a hard right hand on Cotto as Cotto comes forward. 10-9 Alvarez.
49-46 Alvarez
Round 6:
Cotto rushes forward and throws jabs to the body and head of Alvarez but misses. Alvarez rips two hard hooks to the body of Cotto. Alvarez lands two hard straight right hands and moves out of the way of Cotto’s punches. Cotto can not match the power of Alvarez. Alvarez with two hard punches to the body of Cotto again. Cotto with a right hook to the body of Alvarez. The crowd is chanting for Cotto, but Cotto’s punches aren’t getting through the defense of Alvarez. Cotto lands a hard straight right on Alvarez’s chin. Alvarez looks to be in full control. 10-9 Alvarez.
59-55 Alvarez
Round 7:
Cotto lands a straight right hand but then momentarily loses his balance after throwing a left hook. Alvarez is showing good head movement and cracks Cotto with a left hook to the head. Alvarez lands a right lead uppercut and later follows it with a straight right cross. Hard body shot by Alvarez and Cotto tries to force some combinations but his punches miss their target. Cotto connects with a clean jab, but Alvarez lands a harder shot to the body. Cotto throws and lands a double left hook to the body and head. Alvarez does not look worried about Cotto’s power at all. Alvarez lands a good counter right on a forward charging Cotto. 10-9 Alvarez.
69-64 Alvarez
Round 8:
Alvarez opens up the eighth round with a hard left uppercut. Canelo bangs three more hooks to the body of Cotto and then a hard combination upstairs. Cotto lands a good combination of his own and they both exchange hard shots, but Alvarez appears to get the better of Cotto. Alvarez lands a hard right uppercut on Cotto. Alvarez lands another hard left uppercut on Cotto. Cotto gets cracked with a left hook and Cotto answers with a left hook of his own. Cotto throws four jabs and lands half. Cotto lands a right cross followed by a left hook off of a combination. Alvarez misses badly with a right cross. Alvarez lands a hard right uppercut to the body of Cotto. Cotto lands a good right to the body and follows it with three jabs. Cotto ends round with some decent body shots. Good action packed round, but 10-9 Alvarez.
79-73 Alvarez
Round 9:
Cotto lands an early combination in the ninth to the body and head. Alvarez lands a jab and a hard right to the body. Cotto misses with a lead left hook. Alvarez sneaks in a right cross and later lands a left hook to the temple of Cotto. Good short right to the chin by Alvarez. Alvarez lands another hard left uppercut to the head of Cotto and Cotto answers with two hard body shots. Cotto’s jab is on point this round but a left hook by Alvarez may have hurt Cotto. Cotto with two quick jabs. Alvarez whips a left hook into the face of Cotto and then lands a two punch combination. Cotto punches Alvarez with a body head combination. Closer round. 10-9 Cotto.
88-83 Alvarez
Round 10:
Cotto opens up the ninth round with a right cross to the side of Alvarez’s head. Alvarez lands a left hook followed by a left uppercut to the body of Cotto. Alvarez with a right cross to the chin of Cotto. Alvarez lands a body punch and Cotto complains about it landing on his back. Alvarez lands a jab and Cotto replies with a combination to the body. Cotto connects with a right hook to the body followed by two jabs. The crowd is chanting again, and Cotto is avoiding the combinations better this round. Cotto lands another good jab on Alvarez and then moves out of the way. Alvarez cracks Cotto with a right uppercut to the body and Cotto looks like that it hurt him. Cotto lands a good right hand near the end of the round and then dodges the punches of Alvarez. 10-9 Cotto.
97-93 Alvarez
Round 11:
Alvarez opens up the round with another lead left hook. Cotto misses with a two punch combination and then gets hit with a left hook by Alvarez. Good right hook by Cotto on Alvarez’s temple. Alvarez lands a hard left hook and then misses with a right cross. Cotto punches Alvarez with a two punch combination and then moves out of the way of a right cross. Alvarez lands a hard right cross to the body of Cotto. Alvarez lands a right to the chin of Cotto and Cotto connects with a short jab. Alvarez rocks Cotto with a left hook that momentarily shakes Cotto. Cotto throws a good short jab. Alvarez misses with a wild three punch combination. 10-9 Alvarez
107-102 Alvarez
Round 12:
They touch gloves at the start of the round, and Alvarez lands a good body head combination. Both boxers are throwing hard punches early on in the round and are looking for the knockout. Alvarez is landing some heavy bombs on Cotto, but Cotto is taking the shots well. Cotto lands three good jabs on Alvarez. Cotto has a cut over his left eye. Cotto landed a good straight right and Alvarez answers with a harder straight right. Alvarez is walking through the power punches of Cotto. Cotto is reaching for his punches but Alvarez lands a very hard body shot on Cotto that hurts Cotto and forces him to circle away. Good exchanges in the final twenty seconds of the fight, but Alvarez is getting the better of Cotto. 10-9 Alvarez.
117-111 Alvarez.
The judges scored the bout 117-111, 119-109, and 118-110 for Canelo Alvarez.
Canelo Alvarez:
“I have a lot of respect for Miguel. He is a great champion and a great fighter. We knew going into this fight that it would be a difficult journey, but I feel that I was the faster and stronger fighter tonight. I wasn’t hurt by his punches. I want to thank my trainers, they are like my family and the best people I know and I couldn’t have done this without them.”
I’m not afraid of any fighter. GGG is a great fighter, and he is my friend. I have respect for him, but if we do fight it’s going to be at my weight class. I’m the champion, I don’t have to do what he wants.”
“I was fully prepared for what Cotto was going to do in the ring, whether that was take a defense stance or be the aggressor.”
Miguel Cotto: “Wow…(then asked Freddie) Are you okay? That’s all that matters.”
JAY-Z: “Great fight.”
Juan Perez, President of Roc Nation Sports: “We are proud of you.”
Freddie Roach: “We thought it was much closer than the scorecards showed. It was a very competitive fight. Miguel’s defense was unbelievable.”
