Miguel Cotto and Saul Alvarez are both motivated heading into their highly anticipated title showdown on Nov. 21 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Cotto, who will put his World Boxing Council middleweight title on the line against Canelo, is working hard in training and is taking a serious approach in sparring sessions with just a month left before his second title defense.
According to strength and conditioning coach Gavin McMillan, Cotto has been working harder compared to his previous training camps, knowing that he will be facing one of the top pound-for-pound fighters today.
Most boxing analysts believe that Canelo has the upper hand because he is younger and stronger. But based on what he saw from Cotto, McMillan is confident that age will not be a factor because the Puerto Rican champion is in much better shape than he was during his last two fights -- against Sergio Martinez and Daniel Geale.
To prove his claims, McMillan said that Cotto, who has a 40-4 record with 33 knockout victories, has been busting up his younger sparring partners in camp.
"We have been working with fighters who are 10 years younger than Miguel," McMillan told El Vocero via BoxingScene. "They've all felt his hands and they all leave very sore. We are already at a stage where we are using different sparring partners. We are at a moment where there is a lot of focus because we have five weeks to the fight."
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach also had a similar take on Cotto's preparation. The veteran boxing coach told BoxingScene last week that Cotto is already in great shape and their seven weeks of preparation will be enough to defeat Alvarez.
However, Alvarez is also determined to silence his critics and he is aware that a win against Cotto will improve his stock and could even propel him to the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.
"Certainly, it would be one of the biggest wins in my career," Alvarez told BoxingScene, referring to victory against Cotto. "For me, all of my victories are great, but this one would mean more because of everything that it entails and because of everything that comes with it. Beating Cotto would be the biggest thing for my career."
Alvarez, who has racked up 45 victories against just one defeat and one draw in his 10-year professional career, is currently training in Guadalajara, Mexico and has already engaged in 100 rounds of intense sparring sessions.
