Showtime to air Cotto-Trout fight documentaries

Nov

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Showtime will take viewers behind the scenes and into the lives of junior middleweight contender Austin Trout, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and four-time, three-division titlewinner Miguel Cotto in advance of their network-televised clash on Dec. 1 from New York’s Madison Square Garden with the documentary All Access: Cotto vs. Trout.

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The first of two episodes of All Access will air on Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT, as Trout (25-0, 14 knockouts) prepares to take on Cotto (37-2, 30 KOs) in New York, where the Puerto Rican challenger has never lost and is an overwhelming favorite among local fans.

Cotto is 7-0 with four knockouts at The Garden, where he stopped Antonio Margarito in the 10th round in December of last year to avenge the first loss of his career, an 11th-round knockout in July of 2008.

alt He is 9-0 with five stoppage wins overall in New York, and has decisioned former world titleholders Shane Mosley, Joshua Clottey and Paulie Malignaggi, and knocked out Zab Judah, all at The Garden.

Cotto, who turned 32 last month, is coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr., who added Cotto’s WBA junior middleweight to his WBC welterweight title in May.

The loss to Mayweather ended a three-fight knockout and winning streak by Cotto, whose previous setback had come via 12th-round stoppage opposite Manny Pacquiao in November of 2009.

Rather than take a rematch with Pacquiao, Cotto elected to challenge Trout, who is coming off a unanimous decision over Delvin Rodriguez in June that followed a Showtime-televised sixth-round stoppage of Frank LoPorto last November.

Cotto will be in his third fight under trainer Pedro Diaz against Trout, 27, who has served as a sparring partner for both RING middleweight champion Sergio Martinez and 160-pound contender Matthew Macklin, as well as Margarito.

Trout helped fellow southpaw Martinez to prepare for left-handed fighters such as Sergei Dzinziruk and Paul Williams, and he was there to get Mackin ready for Martinez.

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Macklin gave Martinez all that he could handle and led throughout much of their fight before being stopped in the 11th-round in March.

As a result, Macklin told RingTV.com that he wouldn’t be surprised if Trout defeated Cotto.

In episode one of All Access, Showtime will document Cotto’s training from the mountains of Big Bear, Calif., to the heat of Orlando, Fla., where he plans to complete his camp.

Cameras will also be rolling in Las Cruces, N.M., where Trout will spend time with trainer Louie Burke preparing for what amounts to his fourth title defense.

The documentary will include the fighters’ family members, nutritionists and nearly every vital component during their road to battle at The Garden.

Following the Dec. 1 fight, “Epilogue” will air on Dec. 15 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime, peeling back the curtain and taking viewers inside the fight week build-up in order to offe a rare glimpse into the raw emotion and drama during the fight.

Following the premiere of “Epilogue,” Showtime will present the return of former IBF/WBA junior welterweight titleholder Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KOs), of Bolton, England, against 140-pound prospect Carlos Molina (17-0-1, 7 KOs), of Rosemeade, Calif., at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.

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