Trout eyes Alvarez after shock points win over Cotto

Austin Trout Austin Trout wants a unification showdown with World Boxing Council 154-pound champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez after his shock points victory over Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto. Trout retained his World Boxing Association junior middleweight world title on Saturday night claiming a wide unanimous decision, 117-111 twice and 119-109.
Afterwards, the American called out Mexican Alvarez who was present at ringside: "Hey, Canelo, I want you Canelo, It's time to unify this division. I need that strap off his waist."
In a closely contested bout, Trout finished strongly to hand Cotto a first defeat at Madison Square Garden, the landmark New York arena where Cotto had won seven previous bouts.
Trout rattled Cotto with a hard left in the first round. As the action heated up in the fourth it suited Cotto.
The second half of the fight saw more intensity from both men. Trout was impressive in the 10th and again in the 11th, when he continued to pummel Cotto's face, and the final round saw several furious exchanges.
Cotto, fighting in his adopted hometown, was an overwhelming favorite among the crowd of more than 13,000 but even he looked resigned after the final bell.
His face battered, Cotto knelt in a corner of the ring as Trout's corner lifted their man aloft as the fighters waited to hear the decision.
"I've been waiting for this moment my whole career. You do get anxious when you fight a guy like him, but it motivates you, too. I had to show him I was the bigger guy and push him back a couple times. I kept pushing him back to show him he had no advantage," Trout said.
Cotto, a three-division world champion, fell to 37-4 with 30 wins inside the distance.