Canelo Alvarez, Miguel Cotto make weight for Saturday’s middleweight bout
If Friday's weigh-in is any indication, Canelo Alvarez will have a decided advantage with the fans who attend Saturday's sold-out fight between Alvarez and Miguel Cotto at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
About 7,000 fans packed adjacent ballrooms for the weigh-in which saw Cotto weigh 153½ pounds and Alvarez 155 pounds for their catch-weight fight of 155 pounds. The majority of those in attendance cheered wildly for Alvarez, the Mexican superstar and former world junior middleweight champion who is 45-1-1 with 32 knockouts.
Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs), whose purse Saturday will be $15 million, was stripped of his World Boxing Council middleweight title Tuesday after refusing to pay a $300,000 sanctioning fee. If Alvarez, whose purse is $5 million, wins, he will be the WBC champion. If Cotto wins, the title remains vacant.
Both fighters pronounced themselves ready to win after the weigh-in and the odds shifted slightly in Alvarez's favor. The MGM Resorts sports books have Alvarez as a minus-320 favorite while the take-back on Cotto is plus 240.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjounal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj
