That’s all for now. Thanks for following along. Off to the post-fight press conference. Check back shortly for a full fight report.
And here’s a look at the official scorecards. Hard to believe Dave Moretti found only one round to give Cotto, the fourth.
Updated
Canelo landed 155 of 484 punches (32%), compared to 129 of 629 (21%) for Cotto. Here’s a look at the complete punch stats as compiled by CompuBox.
Cotto v Canelo
629 Total punches thrown 484
129 Total punches connected 155
21% Percentage 32%
374 Total jabs thrown 186
54 Total jabs connected 37
14% Percentage 20%
255 Total power punches thrown 298
75 Total power punches connected 118
14% Percentage 40%
Kellerman asks Canelo about fighting Golovkin. This is important not just because it’s a fight that would rate among the best that can be made today, but because he must fight GGG or he will vacate the WBC title he just won.
“I can’t answer that right now,” Canelo says. “But if you want me to fight him right now, I’ll fight him right now.”
The scores were wider than we thought, but the right guy won. Canelo being interviewed by Max Kellerman in the ring as the Puerto Rican fans boo him lustily.
“Much respect to Miguel Cotto, he’s a great champion,” Canelo says. “But now it’s my era”
Canelo Alvarez wins by unanimous decision!
Canelo Alvarez is the new lineal middleweight champion of the world. The official scores: John McKaie scores it 117-111, Dave Moretti has it 119-109, Burt Clements has it 118-110.
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Round 12
What a finish! Toe-to-toe action form the opening bell as both fighters go for the knockout. Cotto rocked hard with a left hook early on, but he fires back and moves Canelo backwards – his best punch of the night. The fighters in the middle of the ring as the crowd watches from their feet. Canelo landing more punches here, three times as many according to CompuBox. Just blistering stuff both ways. I’ve scored the 12th and the fight to Canelo, but all that matters is what the judges think. Official scores shortly.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Cotto 9-10 Canelo (Cotto 113-115 Canelo)
Round 11
Lots of close rounds in this one. Expect scorecards all over the map. Cotto connects with a hard straight right early on that gets Canelo’s atention. Canelo letting Cotto dictate the pace. Even though Canelo is landing that harder, more punishing shots, Cotto may have stolen more rounds than we realize.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Cotto 10-9 Canelo (Cotto 104-105 Canelo)
Round 10
Canelo lands a low blow and is warned by the referee, drawing boos from the Boricuans in the crowd. Canelo landing the harder, more meaningful blows continues to be the difference in the fight, but Cotto did enough that round with movement and the jab to win it. A very good rebound round for the Puerto RIcan but he’s going to need something special these last two rounds to win the night.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Cotto 10-9 Canelo (Cotto 94-96 Canelo)
Round 9
Through eight rounds Cotto has landed 48 of 176 punches (27%) compared to 68 of 166 for Canelo (41%). Canelo really coming on strong here in the middle rounds and the ninth is no different. Cotto triples up the jab, connecting with a few to score and keep Canelo at bay, but Canelo is getting through and landing power shots. A big uppercut there from Canelo, but Cotto responds with a nicely placed hook. He’s scoring and Canelo looks like he may be starting to tire. Another round to Canelo but it was a close one.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Cotto 9-10 Canelo (Cotto 84-87 Canelo)
Round 8
The crowd is whipped into a frenzy throughout a round with furious two-way action. Gripping stuff, but not good for Cotto, who needs to keep boxing and avoid being dragged into a slugfest. Canelo with a hook, Canelo with a sneaky uppercut that moves Cotto. The champion is getting his shots in but there’s no question who’s getting the worst of the exchanges. A flurry of vicious shots to the head and body from Canelo, but Cotto is not backing down. A genuine round of the year candidate.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Cotto 9-10 Canelo (Cotto 75-77 Canelo)
Round 7
A right hand from Canelo snaps Cotto’s head back, but he responds with a pair of shots to the body. Cotto continues to try and outbox the younger, stronger challenger. Canelo misses and Cotto counters beautifully. Another left hook by Cotto, but Canelo fires back with a punishing right uppercut. The round goes to Canelo as Cotto got away from the jab there.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Cotto 9-10 Canelo (Cotto 66-67 Canelo)
Updated
Round 6
Action heating up in the sixth as Canelo starts to crowd and pressure Cotto and throw with greater frequency. Every punch of Cannelo’s that connects lands with a thud audible from the six rows off the ring. Cotto is not backing down, but can’t give up on the body attack even if he’s yet to figure out a way to land that trademark left downstairs with any consistency. Canelo with a left uppercut followed by a straight right. Again the Mexican landed the harder shots, but Cotto scored enough with that jab that round to nick it. Even fight through six.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Cotto 10-9 Canelo (Cotto 57-57 Canelo)
Round 5
Canelo lands a big uppercut early on, but Cotto responds with a frustration. Cotto’s hardest shots seem to have no effect on Canelo – like that educated four-punch combination just now – who is starting to time his opponent’s rhythm much better. Another close round by Canelo takes it by landing the harder, more meaningful shots.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Cotto 9-10 Canelo (Cotto 47-48 Canelo)
Rounds 1-4
The Wi-Fi connection at the Mandalay Bay Events Center crashed just before the opening bell and was restored just at the end of the four round. We’ll summarize here. Not much of a feeling-out process early as each fighter loaded up on his shots in the middle of the ring, but after the initial exchanges both men have been mostly conservative. The fourth was Cotto’s best round: he’s been doing his best when he sticks to using the jab. An even fight so far through four rounds. First and fourth to Cotto, second and third to Canelo.
Guardian’s unofficial score (through four rounds): Cotto 38-38 Canelo
Final odds from the MGM Grand sports book are out. Canelo closed at -300, Cotto +230. Michael Buffer going through the introductions now.
The fighters are making their ringwalks. Canelo first to México Lindo y Querido, Cotto ... with no music at all. Just headphones. That’s new.
Here’s a look at the tale of the tape as the crowd rises for the national anthems of Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States. The weights are accurate as of Friday’s weigh-in, though we can expect both fighters have rehydrated and will enter the ring above the contracted catch-weight of 155lbs.
Cotto v Canelo
35 Age 25
5ft 8in Height 5ft 9in
153½lbs Weight 155lbs
Orthodox Stance Orthodox
67in Reach 72in
41in Chest (Normal) 43in
43in Chest (Expanded) 44in
32in Waist 32in
14½in Biceps 16in
12in Forearm 14in
21in Thigh 24in
17in Neck 16in
7in Wrist 8in
12in Fist 12in
40/4/0 w/l/d 45/1/1
33 KOs 32
Here’s a look at the odds for tonight’s fight at the MGM Grand sports book. Cotto’s price has shortened from +265 to +240 since Thursday, indicating steady action on the Puerto Rican icon. Don’t be surprised to see the number keep moving in that direction. Not much longer now.
Francisco Vargas has just scored a stunning knockout of Takashi Muira for Muira’s super featherweight title! The champion had rallied nicely from a first-round knockdown, battering Vargas’s face badly over the next seven frames. But Vargas floored Muira with a devastating left-right combination out of nowhere in the early seconds of the ninth and referee Tony Weeks called a stop to it at the 1:31 mark. A spectactular finish, one of the best you’ll ever see.
“I’m the champ, I’m the champ!” Vargas said. “This is a dream come true for me, something I have been fighting for my whole life. I knew Takashi was going to be a tough opponent, that’s why he is the champion, so I had to make sure I was prepared to face a fighter like him. I feel that my preparation paid off for this fight. I knew I had to be very aggressive, and I showed that in the first round so he knew that I would not be bullied. When I was knocked down in the fourth round, I felt even more motivated to win this fight. I made sure to fight the way I wanted, how I wanted and my style and now I’m the champion of the world! I hope all the fans enjoyed themselves tonight with my performance.”
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A bit of news today in Las Vegas: Sergey Kovalev will meet Andre Ward next year in one of the best fights that can be made today. Main Events CEO Kathy Duva told reporters on Saturday that contracts have been signed for the long-fancied bout between two of the sport’s pound-for-pound best. The deal stipulates that the fight can’t take place on either fighter’s home turf: California for Ward, Russia for Kovalev. Duva indicated it will likely take place at either Madison Square Garden or Las Vegas.
Elsewhere, Britain has another world champion after Anthony Crolla captured the WBA lightweight title with a body-shot knockout of Darleys Pérez earlier today in Germany.
One person who wasn’t impressed by Rigondeaux’s technical style was Drian Francisco. He connected on only 42 of 228 punches (18%) against the slippery Cuban, compared to 72 of 347 (21%) for Rigondeaux.
“Rigondeaux is not a fighter, he is a runner,” Francisco said. “He is afraid of getting hurt and doesn’t want to fight. I felt pressured into being the aggressor during this fight because he wasn’t fighting, he was running away. He is not a power puncher and won by points. I trained really hard for this fight and I feel like it was a waste of time because I didn’t encounter a fighter tonight.”
Yikes.
The last fight before Cotto v Canelo is underway. Takashi Miura, the WBC super featherweight champion, was rocked by a counter right from Mexican challenger Francisco Vargas in the opening round and showed great heart to make it to the bell. He’s rallied nicely since, opening a cut under Vargas’s right eye and dropping him with thudding straight left near the end of the fourth.
MUST WATCH: Miura knocks down Vargas with this great left hand in R4 #boxing #CottoCanelo #boxeo #MiuraVargas pic.twitter.com/7prJTbnbJ8
— TheSweetScience (@TSSboxingnews) November 22, 2015
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A pause in the boxing for a musical number by Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Yandel. These have become a staple of Roc Nation’s sports-music hybrid. Though I must say the two massive explosions during the performance, so loud they sounded like bombs going off in the area, are probably not the smartest idea given current events.
Guillermo Rigondeaux just showed why he just may be the best fighter on the planet. The two-time Olympic gold medalist showed no rust in his first fight in nearly a year, rolling to a 10-round unanimous decision over Drian Francisco by scores of 100-90, 100-90 and 97-93. (The Guardian had it 100-90.)
Rigondeaux, who appears at or near the top of nearly all pound-for-pound lists, slipped, pivoted, parried and countered with verve, a masterful display of hit-and-don’t-get-hit boxing. His technical style might not be characterized as crowd-pleasing – indeed, scattered boos could be heard throughout the half-full arena – but there’s no denying it’s effective.
“I feel terrific after the fight,” he said through a translator. “He threw heavy but his style has nothing on mine. My style outmatched his. It’s been 11 months since I’ve been in the ring and I definitely felt some cobwebs but I d like to see some other fighters be out 11 months and come back with a win. I definitely wanted to give the fans a better fight so I need to get back in to the gym, get more active to give a better performance. I promise that with the tools I have now after signing with Roc Nation that next time I’ll be explosive. Thank you to my team for helping me get this win.”
After calling time on one of the greatest amateur careers ever, Rigondeaux fled to the United States in 2009, set up shop in Miami and won a title in his sixth pro fight. But things had slowed in the nearly three years since his signature win over Nonito Donaire to unify the super bantamweight championship at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Earlier this year he was stripped of his 122lbs titles due to inactivity.
That should change now that he’s signed a four-year contract with Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports worth a reported $10m and was immediately added to Saturday’s pay-per-view undercard.
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Holly Holm is here. One week after shocking the world by battering Ronda Rousey in Melbourne, the newly minted UFC women’s bantamweight champion is in the crowd for tonight’s fights.
Remember to send along your predictions via email or Twitter at @BryanAGraham. Here’s a look at how three legends of the prize ring see it playing out.
Sugar Ray Leonard: “I like Cotto for sentimental reasons and for what he has meant to the sport and boxing fans. Canelo has developed and grown along the way and taken to school against one of the best in Mayweather. If Cotto becomes that Miguel Cotto I remember, he will win by a smart, technical and fearless decision.”
Lennox Lewis: “I’m picking Cotto over Canelo because he has the most experience.”
George Foreman: “It will be a battle of wills as they are evenly matched. In my opinion, things will start to separate after that. Canelo Alvarez punches like a mule. Cotto just doesn’t have the heart to run; he will stand to fight after six rounds and by the ninth round he’ll most likely be KO’d by Canelo.”
Welcome to the Las Vegas strip for tonight’s middleweight title fight between Miguel Cotto and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. We’re coming to you from ringside at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, where the atmosphere is buzzing ahead of a fight bursting with promise.
A seven-fight undercard will set the table for tonight’s main event. Here’s what’s happened so far.
- Hector Tanajara Jr KO 1 Jose Fabian Naranjo (lightweights)
- Zhang Zhilei UD 4 Juan Goode (heavyweights)
- Jose Martinez UD 8 Oscar Mojica (junior bantamweights)
- Alberto Machado KO 1 Tyrone Luckey (lightweights)
- Ronny Rios UD 10 Jayson Velez (featherweights)
Right now former unified junior featherweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux is in the third round of a 10-round fight against Drian Francisco. Then Japan’s Takashi Miura will defend his WBC super featherweight title against Francisco Vargas in the final prelim before the main event. Expect Cotto and Alvarez to make their ringwalks around 8.30pm here in Vegas. That’s 11.30pm ET and 4.30am GMT.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime, check out his lookahead to tonight’s latest chapter in boxing’s fiercest international rivalry.
