Boxing Monthly’s World and British rankings for December 2015 are explained by Colin Harris, our in-house ratings statistician. Trainer, fighter, manager and promoter queries are welcome.
Michael Montero brings you video highlights from what went down at the Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas when Miguel Cotto and Saul Alvarez locked horns as well some footage from the post-fight presser.
Once again Miguel Cotto felt hard done by. As he alighted from the ring and tramped solemnly back to his dressing room in the bowels of the Mandalay Bay Events Centre, Las Vegas, the Puerto Rican veteran, to his continued chagrin, had someone to blame for his latest defeat – his fifth in 45 bouts – that had been meted out by the thudding fists of the popular Mexican Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez.
Another one up, another one down for Ontario’s Brandon Cook, who successfully defended his WBA Intercontinental Super Welterweight title on Saturday night against Uruguay’s Rafael Pintos.
Michael Montero reports from Las Vegas with a video of the Miguel Cotto-Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez weigh-in ahead of their highly anticipated showdown later today.
Commonwealth super welterweight champion Liam Williams will return to the ring for the first time in 13 months, following hand surgery, when he faces Scotland's Kris Carslaw on Frank Warren's 'Christmas Cracker' card on December 19 at the Manchester Arena headed by Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders' WBO middleweight world title fight.
Amidst the darkness of defeat there are victories to be found.
The record will show that Nathan Cleverly lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Andrzej Fonfara just over four weeks ago in Chicago. What the black and white of it all will not say was how much Cleverly was involved in the fight and has a case for what might have been had his nose not been broken in the seventh round.
United Promotions, Ontario’s most prominent boxing promoter, returns on 21 November after a three-month layoff with a card featuring WBA super-welterweight Intercontinental champion Brandon Cook and a slew of local prospects looking for another opportunity to break out. Cook (15-0, 9 KOs) headlines the show against Rafael Sosa Pintos, known to British fans for being dismantled by Callum Smith (LTKO3) in October 2014. “I’m looking for Brandon to make a statement,” United Promotions’ Tyler Buxton told Boxing Monthly. “Pintos is a bigger guy, coming down from middleweight where he fought for the WBA middleweight Intercontinental Championship over there [Europe] and went eight rounds. If Brandon can find a way to get him out before then, that would be a nice little statement.”
Michael Montero analyses the highly anticipated fight between Miguel Cotto and Saul Alvarez on 21 November. 'Canelo', the Mexican superstar, challenges the Puerto Rican future Hall of Famer for his WBC middleweight title. The bout will headline an HBO Boxing PPV card live from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
The car park of the famed Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas usually doubles as a showroom for the latest and greatest European sports cars. Weave your way between the various immaculately manicured Lamborghinis and Bugattis and you will find ‘The Money Team’ spending an increasing amount of time tending to a 20-year-old ‘Tank’. Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’ reputation and amateur achievements earned him the ear of Floyd Mayweather Sr and Roger Mayweather and eventually got him an audition with the man himself.
