Saul Alvarez Wants Floyd Mayweather or Miguel Cotto on December 8

Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO) may have another fight before the close of 2012. On December 8th, Alvarez wants to face Floyd Mayweather (43-0, 26 KO) or Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO), according to sources from Boxing Scene.

Alvarez is the WBC junior middleweight world champion and Mayweather is the WBA junior middleweight world champ. A unification match between the two would be highly lucrative.

Since Alvarez is a hungry 21-year-old kid, he would naturally want to take on Mayweather to clarify who's the best at 154 pounds.

Though Mayweather is 35 years old and coming out of jail, his superior skill would be hard to overcome for the fresh-faced Alvarez.

Alvarez's physical gifts of power and size are nothing Mayweather hasn't seen before. Nor would they be new to former WBA world champ Cotto.

Cotto's first two losses came to fighters with power and lots of activity. While Alvarez is a powerful puncher, he seems timid about throwing punches.

A 40-year-old Shane Mosley (46-8-1, 39 KO) was able to land a lot and not get much return fire from Alvarez. Though Alvarez eventually opened up, he could've been far more aggressive.

Cotto can possibly be overwhelmed by activity from the bigger Alvarez if he uses his upcoming September 15th match against Josesito Lopez (30-4, 18 KO) to practice opening up effectively.

It would be better for Alvarez if he could face more limited brawlers such as James Kirkland (31-1, 27 KO), or tricky technician Carlos Molina (19-5-2, 6 KO) on December 8th.

If Alvarez got past a Kirkland or Molina, fighters that would force him to be more aggressive, he could possibly be ready for Cotto in May.

But facing a junior welterweight in Lopez, alone, is not going to be enough to prepare for someone as experienced as Cotto or Mayweather.

For more boxing news and analysis, follow me on Twitter @justindavidtate