By Jake Donovan

Austin Trout and Miguel Cotto both made weight for Saturday’s headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

Trout required two tries to get within the divisional limit of 154 lb. The defending titlist was slightly heavy on his first try, which was met with a chorus of boos. A simple removal of his underwear was enough to make weight without having to sweat it out. 

Cotto made weight on the first try, coming in slightly under the limit at 153.6 lb. 

Cotto returns to the Garden 52 weeks after last year’s revenge-fueled 10th round stoppage rematch win over Antonio Margarito. The bout marked the second successful defense of the 154 lb. belt he win in June ’10, stopping previously unbeaten Yuri Foreman in nine rounds at Yankees Stadium.

Trout (25-0, 14KO) makes the fourth defense of the 154 lb. belt he won on the road in Mexico with a 12-round points win over Rigoberto Alvarez in Jan. ’11. The New Mexico native has familial roots in Harlem and Brooklyn, but comes into the Garden – his first pro fight at the arena or anywhere else in New York - as the visitor and the underdog. 

Saturday night marks Trout’s first ring appearance since his 12-round points win over Delvin Rodriguez this past June, a bout that served as part of a Showtime-televised quadruple header. Trout appears on Showtime for his third straight fight. 

In televised undercard action, Daniel Jacobs takes on Chris Fitzpatrick in a scheduled 10-round middleweight bout. 

Jacobs (23-1, 20KO) tipped the scales at a chiseled 161.2 lb, while Fitzpatrick (15-2, 6KO) came in over the contracted 162 lb. limit. 

Fitzpatrick’s first attempt registered a weight of 163.8 lb. The Cleveland native then stripped down to his birthday suit, in hopes that a combination of his underwear and a different balancing technique would produce better news. He was still 163.3 lb on the second attempt and now has one hour to lose the additional 1.3 lb. 

Also on the telecast is a featherweight bout between Jayson Velez and Salvador Sanchez II. Velez (19-0, 14KO) came in at 125.8 lb, while Sanchez (30-4-3, 18KO) was 125.2 lb. 

Velez is a protege of Miguel Cotto and promoted by his Promociones Miguel Cotto company. Sanchez is the nephew of the late great featherweight champ by the same name. The last bout of the career of the more famous Sanchez took place at Madison Square Garden, a thrilling stoppage win over then-unknown late sub Azumah Nelson. Sanchez II announced that he will wear the same trunks his uncle wore on that evening 30 years ago. 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of krikya360.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: