Cotto-Ali kickoff press conference

Four-division world champion Miguel Cotto (41-5, 33 KOs) and Sadam “World Kid” Ali (25-1, 14 KOs) hosted a press conference today to formally announce their 12-round fight for Cotto’s WBO world junior middleweight championship. The action will take place at Madison Square Garden, and will be televised live on HBO. Cotto will make his 24th appearance on the network and his 10th showcase at MSG in the final fight of his historic career.

Miguel Cotto: “It’s nice to be back. It is nice to be at this place; it made me the big boxer than I am now. All I can say is that I’m going to Los Angeles tonight to start my training camp. I’m going to do my best with Freddie, as always. I know Sadam Ali will do his best. We are going to bring a good show here on December 2.”

Sadam Ali: “I know I’m the underdog. I know a lot of the media are throwing bad words at me. But if you work hard, you never know what’s going to come. It’s not about the money. It’s about the opportunity. I know if I want to win, I have to come at 100 percent and fight smart. Cotto has tremendous power, so I’m going to fight smart. I’m going to use all of my abilities, my speed, my strength, my feet. I’m ready to shine. For those of you who don’t think I have a chance: all you got to do is wait and see. I promise you that you will see a great fight.”