Five questions surrounding the Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez fight

LAS VEGAS - When lineal middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and challenger Canelo Alvarez step into the ring Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, all eyes will be on the boxing world.

At least that's what the boxing world hopes. They're counting on the media - social and mainstream - to bring the event to the masses and get as many fans and non-fans alike to at least consider buying the pay-per-view at $59.99 ($69.99 for high definition with many outlets) for a fight that's as close to guaranteed to be worth the money as any fight could be (HBO PPV, 9 p.m. ET).

Paste BN Sports tries to answer five questions surrounding what is expected to be one of the most exciting fights of the year.

1. Will the pay-per-view numbers escape the Mayweather-Pacquiao hangover?

After shattering boxing's pay-per-view record with 4.4 million buys at $100 a pop for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, but leaving in its wake millions of disappointed and angry fans over the lackluster fight, it's been a tough row to hoe for pay-per-view boxing events since. Mayweather's retirement fight, a stinker against Andre Berto, drew under 500,000 in September, Mayweather's lowest in years. In October, what was billed as a potentially exciting slugfest between middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin and Canadian knockout artist David Lemieux turned into a one-sided affair dominated by Golovkin, and drew a fairly paltry 150,000 buys for Triple G's first PPV fight.

HBO and the Cotto-Canelo promoters, Roc Nation Sports and Golden Boy Promotions, are bullish on this renewal of the always hot Puerto Rico vs. Mexico rivalry. Oscar De La Hoya, chairman and CEO of GBP, and Michael Yormark, president of Roc Nation Sports, each believes this fight is capable of drawing 1.5 million to 2 million buys. Mark Taffet, head of PPV for HBO, is cautiously optimistic, saying that "It's potentially the best fight that can be made in the sport. It's a fight that every boxing fan wants to see, and I'm sure Cotto and Canelo will give a performance Saturday that will match the passion of the crowd in attendance at Mandalay Bay."

He stopped short of offering any buy predictions, however. De La Hoya called this fight "Mexico's Super Bowl," and a lot of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans will get together to buy the fight to watch their heroes. But HBO might consider itself fortunate to hit the million mark.

2. Can Cotto, at 35, be the same fighter he was in his first three fights under Freddie Roach?

The future Hall of Famer from Puerto Rico has never been better than in his last three fights under the seven-time trainer of the year. He's a very smart fighter with a very smart trainer. He's still a punishing body puncher who will be looking to dig his feared left hook into Canelo's liver and try to wear out the kid 10 years his junior. And Cotto is happier than he's ever been. But let's face it, the three opponents he's beaten with Roach in his corner - all by stoppage - were flawed in some way. Delvin Rodriguez has not won a fight in the last 2 1/2 years and has never beaten an A-list fighter. Sergio Martinez was injured coming into their fight and was far from his best against Cotto. And Daniel Geale came into their fight weakened and gaunt from trying to lose weight. Cotto took advantage, which is what smart fighters do. That's not to say Cotto was not impressive because he was. But he has taken a lot of punishment over the years, especially from his infamous loaded gloves loss to Antonio Margarito and against Pacquiao a year later. Roach believes Cotto is mentally past that awful Margarito beating. He said Cotto told him early on the memory of getting hit, as he put it, like a hammer, was still there whenever he got nailed with a hard shot in sparring. "We worked a lot on that, verbally, after the first fight, and after the second fight, he came to me and said, 'Freddie, it's gone. My confidence is 100% back.' And he doesn't shy away anymore when he gets hit with a big shot, and that's a good sign for me."

3. Will the winner unify the middleweight titles against Gennady Golovkin?

Even though Cotto paid Golovkin a tidy sum - or at least owes him a tidy sum of $800K - to step aside so he could fight Canelo, he could find himself having to face undefeated Triple G (21 consecutive KOs) down the road to unify the middleweight titles. The problem is, Cotto is not really a true middleweight, having fought all of his fights in the 160-pound division at 155 or lower. Golovkin has said he would not drop down that low to fight anyone but Mayweather. Yet, Roach said that while Cotto's first choice if he defeats Canelo is to close out his career in a rematch against Mayweather, he said he would welcome a fight with Golovkin. "Triple G is a great fighter. I do like watching him," Roach said. "He cuts the ring off very well. Is he unbeatable? I'm not sure. I'd like to get Miguel a fight against Triple G, yes."

As for Canelo, he has said recently he is not a true middleweight either and is not ready for 160 pounds. But if Triple G wants to come down to 155, he would fight him any day of the week. Said De La Hoya: "Canelo will absolutely fight Triple G - it's only a question of time. Let's see how this weekend turns out and we can talk about Canelo's future fights then."

4. How tough will it be for Golden Boy if their meal ticket, Canelo, gets beat, or worse, knocked out?

The good folks at Golden Boy Promotions don't even want to think about the prospects of their red-headed Mexican moneymaker coming away with a loss. Why? Because the company has been on a losing streak. Argentine slugger Lucas Matthysse, one of the top three fighters on GBP's roster, was stopped by up-and-comer Viktor Postol on October 3. Two weeks later, another top three GBP fighter, Lemieux, was manhandled and finally stopped in the eighth round by Golovkin at Madison Square Garden. A third consecutive loss, especially by their biggest star, would be devastating. GBP boss De La Hoya's edict that the best should always fight the best is highly commendable in a world that values winning over all else. But in this case, losing could come back to bite him. Canelo comes into the fight as a 3-1 favorite. He needs to win, bottom line. But it won't be easy against a smart veteran such as Cotto.

5. Will Cotto's being stripped of his WBC title four days before his biggest fight since Mayweather be a major distraction?

He shrugs off suggestions it will, saying, "I don't think the belt organization is a big issue here. The fighters, me and Canelo, are bigger than the organization. . . . I don't need a belt to fight Canelo." Yet it's an issue he has been asked about constantly since arriving in Las Vegas. WBC boss Mauricio Sulaiman said angrily that Cotto "threw us to the floor and stepped on us." De La Hoya thinks it could affect Cotto, or at least hopes it does. "I think it's more (of a distraction) for him, because he's dealing with this whole monetary situation with the WBC. So the way I see it is, first round to Canelo." De La Hoya says Alvarez is more motivated now because he knows the title, which would be in his second weight class, is clearly within his grasp. If Cotto loses, his decision to not pay the WBC's $300,000 sanctioning fee will likely be a factor and could come back to haunt him.