By Edward Chaykovsky

Freddie Roach, trainer of WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, wants his fighter to score a knockout victory over Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Cotto gave Mayweather a very tough fight in May of 2012. Mayweather won a twelve round unanimous decision. The fight took place at the full junior middleweight limit of 154-pounds.

Cotto would then lose his next fight as well, to Austin Trout, before hooking up with Roach in early 2013. With Roach at his side, Cotto has won his last three by knockout and captured the WBC middleweight crown from Sergio Martinez in June 2014.

Mayweather dominated Canelo over twelve rounds in September 2013.

Roach believes a knockout victory over Canelo is potentially enough to bait Mayweather into a rematch. Mayweather retired on September 12th after winning a lopsided twelve round decision over Andre Berto.

Roach feels very strongly that Mayweather will return next year. Because Cotto is not contractually tied to any network, it opens the door for a rematch - if Mayweather became interested in one.

"I really want [Cotto] to win impressively though. Because if we knock this guy out and Mayweather couldn't....Miguel told me one time 'Freddie, if you would have trained me for that fight I would have knocked this guy out.' And I would really like to see that happen. I think the better we look in this fight, the better chance we have to get Floyd Mayweather - if he comes out of retirement, which I think he will," Roach told Bernardo Osuna.