Trainer: ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has at least eight other pro knockouts

The disparity in ring experience between 35-year-old Miguel Cotto and opponent Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who is 10 years younger, isn’t as great as perceived.

Alvarez’s longtime trainer, Chepo Reynoso, confirmed Thursday that Alvarez fought at least eight professional bouts early in his career that haven’t been documented by those who keep official records.

“They were all victories -- knockouts -- but if all of them had been recorded, it would’ve been more difficult for us to get fights back then, so we didn’t mind,” Reynoso said in Spanish through an interpreter.

“We could try to fix it now, but it really doesn’t matter anymore.”

Alvarez, 25, of Guadalajara, started boxing at 15 and once would take as many as three fights in one month.

His fight-by-fight records in 2005 and 2007 show periods without activity ranging from two to four months, and it was during those times, Reynoso said, that Alvarez was taking fights at Palenque Arena in Tepic, Mexico.

Even though former four-division world champion Cotto is years older and has fought in more significant bouts, he has fought five fewer official rounds than Alvarez, It would be even more if the additional bouts were factored in.

Alvarez would have a record of at least 53-1-1 with 40 knockouts if the fights were properly accounted for. Reynoso said he wasn’t sure if Alvarez had a ninth unrecorded bout.

“They didn’t follow the proper procedure to record them as official fights,” said Golden Boy Promotions executive Eric Gomez. “For whatever reason, Fight Fax didn’t get the paperwork to record the fights.

“He was fighting so much that these smaller places, these smaller commissions in Mexico, weren’t following procedure. They were fights. He won. He collected money.”

Gomez said the additional bouts provide further reason why Alvarez has confidence about dealing with a boxer viewed as more experienced.

“Saul got in the ring prepared for those fights, threw punches, received punches. All that stuff is actual experience you can’t take away,” Gomez said. “Just because pieces of paper can’t prove it, he knows it in his head, and so does his team, that he has that experience.”

World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman said he’s been aware of the missing fights on Alvarez’s record for years.

“We’re trying to call and find out exactly how many he had,” said Sulaiman.