Miguel Cotto Defended by WBA President After Losing WBC Middleweight Belt

WBA president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza has criticised the WBC for stripping lineal champion Miguel Cotto of his middleweight title earlier this week.

Cotto takes on Canelo Alvarez at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Saturday in arguably the biggest non-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight of the last few years.

He was stripped of his WBC championship after reportedly refusing to pay the $300,000 sanctioning fee to have the title on the line for the fight, per ESPN's Dan Rafael.

There is now a suspicion that the 35-year-old Puerto Rican may not pay the required $800,000 step-aside fee to WBC mandatory challenger Gennady Golovkin, as the title is no longer at stake against Alvarez, per Lance Pugmire of the LA Times.

The situation has become very murky, and Mendoza is unimpressed with the way the WBC went about dealing with it, per ESPN Deportes (via Miguel Rivera of Boxing Scene):

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I think we are going to be seeing more big name boxers making these decisions. My intention is not to criticise what the Council did or did not, but the decision was a little off. I do not agree with the decision that was made. They should have found a solution, perhaps after the fight. Cotto for me is a serious person who has nothing to hide. But I also wonder what and who was involved in the step aside agreement. I think that the WBC did not handle it well and that is my feeling and I will let [WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman] know at our next meeting. 

To me all of this seems a bit unethical, and I know Miguel respected world titles. As sanctioning bodies, we can not get into private agreements. Doing so will detract the public.

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The title situation for Saturday's fight has now become very complicated. Should Mexico's Alvarez, 25, win, he will take the WBC title, but Golovkin will become WBC champion if Cotto wins, per Matt Christie of Boxing News.

It is still set to be a tremendous fight and the winner will likely then take on WBA and IBF champion Golovkin either way.

Both Cotto and Alvarez said they were fully prepared in the final press conference before the huge clash:

Canelo's youth could give him the edge, but he is coming up against a hugely experienced performer and will need to be at the top of his game.

Cotto is likely to only be spurred on by the week's events, and a truly gripping contest is in store for boxing fans as two of the sport's biggest stars face off.