Four days before his title showdown with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, Miguel Cotto has been stripped off by the World Boxing Council of the middleweight belt he is supposed to defend after he refused to pay the required $300,000 sanctioning fee.

Without the fee, Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) will no longer be the sanctioning body's middleweight champion whether he wins or loses his fight against Canelo (45-1-1, 32 KOs) this weekend. However, Alvarez will still get the belt if he defeats Cotto, as noted by Sports Illustrated.

Like Us on Facebook

ESPN's senior writer Dan Rafael indicated that the Puerto Rican legend first negotiated for the fee to be lowered, but the WBC declined and so he eventually refused to pay anything at all.

The fight, dubbed a "WBC world championship bout", is now tainted because there is in fact no longer any title for the two fighters to contend for inside the ring.

This incident has drawn the iire of Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya, who is Canelo's promoter.

"It's a disgrace," De La Hoya said. "It's a disgrace to the promotion. It's a disgrace to the sport to do something like that."

"Every fighter dreams of fighting for the WBC middleweight championship, and to do something like that is a disgrace. Look, I can assure one thing - Canelo is ticked off about it," he added.

SB Nation's Bad Left Hook reported that Cotto is fine with the WBC's decision, saying that the organization "can keep their title" and "he'd rather keep his money".

"They told me I was not going to be their champion anymore. I don't need their belt," the former middleweight champ said. "I have enough belts in my house. And with the money I saved, I can buy any belt I want. And I can be the champion of whatever I want in my house."

Cotto's sentiments actually makes a lot of sense, especially now that he is nearing retirement and he could use all the cash that he can possibly earn.

Besides, Cotto's legacy is already set in stone no matter the outcome of his Saturday bout with Canelo, whether with a title is on the line or not.

It should be noted that Cotto is the first and only Puerto Rican boxer to have won world championship titles in four different weight divisions and is a shoo-in for the sports' Hall of Fame soon.

Tags Boxing News, Boxing News 2015, Miguel Cotto, Miguel Cotto vs Canelo Alvarez, canelo alvarez, Oscar de la Hoya, WBC middleweight championship