Even though Sergio Martinez resembled an aging armored knight clumsily bumbling around the ring on shoddy wooden stilts, Miguel Cotto still shocked the world with his history making performance when he stopped the former middleweight king in dominant style. The victory puts Cotto in a great position to land some big name opponents and some nice paydays. Miguel has loads of lucrative options out there right now, and everyone near or around 160 is going to want a piece of him. Everyone.
It is therefore logical to assume he may soon wind up facing one of boxing’s big 3 money makers, which would involve a possible match with Canelo Alvarez or a return bout with either Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao. But looking into the immediate future, a rematch with either P4P star seems unlikely. Cotto and Pacquiao have formed a brotherly bond since they are now both under the tutelage of Freddie Roach. And with Mayweather expected to fight again in September, that’s probably a little too soon for Cotto to make his return after such an awesome win. That makes Alvarez the default frontrunner based on process of elimination.
Ruslan Provodnikov scored a spectacular late round stoppage against Mike Alvarado tonight. It was something else. Provodnikov really looked up to the task. He was just brutal and relentless, and like a hungry shark hunting beneath shadowy waters, Provodnikov always seemed carried by forward momentum. A savage and consistent barrage of sharp hooks, crisp rights, and wicked body shots ultimately led to Alvarado’s demise. Provodnikov’s offense was running on all cylinders, and the surprisingly vicious outcome here helps to provide boxing fans with some new perspective for a couple of things.
Mayweather’s fans/advocates claim that Floyd can adapt to any style. They believe there is no style in existence which Mayweather hasn’t seen or can’t adapt to. 
Chris Arreola just did what most of us expected. He stopped Seth Mitchell in 1 easy round. It was over so fast that it proves absolutely nothing. No real surprise here. Mitchell simply isn’t that durable and it showed again. While the victory probably doesn’t prove much in the grand scheme of things, Arreola just gained some momentum. This is especially true if you consider how poorly he fared in his previous fight against Stiverne. The celebratory pushups by Arreola were probably a bit much, but this was Chris’s biggest win in a long time, or at least his flashiest and most explosive win under a televised spotlight. He had reason to be happy. He actually even appeared trimmer and thinner than he has in years. Dare I say he almost looked like a fit professional prizefighter. Arreola finally seems to be picking up the pieces and putting them back together, something he promised to do after losing to Vitali but never did.