Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Miguel Cotto will likely collide in a super fight in May next year. And if the fight happens, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. believes that Alvarez will be a slight favorite.
Chavez said in an interview that both fighters are very good in their own right, agreeing to most analysts' prediction that the Alvarez-Cotto showdown will be a tough one to call.
"I think it's a good fight," Chavez said of the Alvarez-Cotto fight via BoxingScene. "It has all of the ingredients of a fight that people want to see. One fighter is tremendous technically, another seems to have power, one is young and the other is slightly bigger, one has a lot of history on his side and other is just starting his. People follow them both, it's a good fight."
When pressed to give his take on the proposed showdown that is expected to do good numbers if finalized next year, Chavez thinks that Alvarez will be a favorite, but Cotto is capable of turning the tables around mainly because of his trainer, Freddie Roach.
"The fight is tough. I think youth, with power, and not having to battle with weight - Canelo is a slight favorite, but Cotto has Freddie Roach and he knows a lot," Chavez said.
Both Alvarez and Cotto were originally scheduled to have a tune-up fight in December before both of them cancelled their plan fight. Cotto cited his trainer's unavailability, while Alvarez pulled out of his proposed showdown against Joshua Clottey on December 6 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Both fighters are reportedly considering fighting in January before they collide on May 2, but Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya recently said that they could arrange the Alvarez-Cotto fight outright.
"Going right to a Cotto fight is a big possibility," De La Hoya told ESPN. "I will be talking to Canelo and his management team in the next couple of days to see what they want to pursue. This is a minor setback. I am more than positive Canelo will have the opportunity to fight live on HBO, even if it's not next. But I hear in Canelo's voice the enthusiasm about fighting on Cinco de Mayo weekend."
