By Steve Kim

At some point the fight between Saul Alvarez and Miguel Cotto will be signed for November. It is perhaps the most anticipated match-up in the second half of 2015. Bernard Hopkins, who's a partner in Golden Boy Promotions, has a vested interest in this fight given that they promote 'Canelo'.

Hopkins believes that their man must be versatile and learn from his experience in losing to Floyd Mayweather a couple of years ago.

"I think Cotto's is a guy who's comfortable when you're trading with him, when you're there, when you're trying to block, you're trying to roll - but no one rolls like (Floyd) Mayweather - and that's where Cotto has his shots. He gets into trading shots with anybody and especially if 'Canelo' tries to do that early," said Hopkins, who cites Cotto's strong left hook as something that Alvarez must guard against.

"I see 'Canelo' fighting his fight that got him to this point later on in this fight. Cotto is extremely dangerous, head-up, first half of the fight, definitely the first quarter of the fight. He's going to have to give him looks. Not necessarily run but give him some in-and-out movement, left-to-right, letting his hands go and fighting the way 'Canelo' likes to fight when its time. But he can not run to win this fight. There's no running in this fight because t hey don't have the DNA to run,'' continued Hopkins.

"But I think this fight will be a close fight, obviously I'm biased, I want my guy to win," admitted Hopkins. "I believe he will win but it will be a hard fight. It will test 'Canelo', whether he's that legitimate next star in boxing. This will be the fight I think that he'll get a chance to show that he's just not a come forward guy."

A couple of years ago in what was considered a mega-fight, Alvarez was simply ill-equipped to deal with the skills of Mayweather. An emphatic victory over the Puerto Rican star will show that 'Canelo' is more than just a matinee idol.

"That he's not just a guy that when he reaches this level of competition that he now gets over that hump. That experience from the past should play a significant role this year."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.