Freddie Roach is confident that Miguel Cotto will win against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in their upcoming showdown on Nov. 21 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Alvarez, who holds a 45-1-1 record with 32 knockouts, is considered as slight favorite to win in the highly anticipated showdown but Roach thinks otherwise.
The Hall of Fame trainer, who has guided Cotto to three consecutive wins since striking a deal, told Boxing News Online that the Puerto Rican is stronger than the younger Alvarez.
"I think we're stronger than him. I think we're the better puncher, and we will show on fight night," Roach said. "But we will come up with a big game plan like we did in the last three fights. Miguel is a really hard worker and he's very dedicated. Me and him, we do work very well together and I expect this to be one of the greatest fights of all time."
Roach, a seven-time Boxing Writers Association of America trainer of the year awardee, is not taking Alvarez lightly because he sees the Mexican boxing superstar as a good puncher.
However, the 55-year-old said that experience will be a big factor in the upcoming showdown. He pointed out that he knows the perfect fight plan to beat Alvarez and he is confident that Cotto will work hard in training camp in order to overcome one of the biggest challenges of his career.
"Miguel will take him to school," Roach confidently said. "I think we're just too smart. We're going to come out with a really good, great game plan. Me and Miguel worked really hard on that, we work really hard together and we are going to be at our best for this one. Again, this is a big, big fight for us."
Cotto, who has racked up 40 victories with 33 knockout wins against just four defeats in his 14-year boxing career, is coming off a fourth-round knockout win against Daniel Geale in June.
The fight against Geale was his first title defense since winning the World Boxing Council middleweight crown in June last year, when he forced veteran boxer Sergio Martinez to retire during the 10th round of their showdown.
Cotto is very eager to slug it out against Canelo and he guaranteed that fight fans will enjoy their showdown, as it will be a new chapter on the storied rivalry between Mexican and Puerto Rican boxers.
"Everybody knows what a fight between a Mexican and Puerto Rican means for boxing," Cotto said. "People can expect the same from us."
