Cotto In A Capsule
When Puerto Rico native Miguel Cotto steps in the ring in New York on December 2nd to face Sadam Ali it will be for his final fight. Cotto has been one of the best in the sport during his era and deserves for boxing fans to tune in on HBO Championship Boxing to see his curtain call.
With him leaving boxing soon let’s look at his career in a capsule:
As an amateur, Cotto represented Puerto Rico in the lightweight and light welterweight divisions at various international events, including the 1999 Pan American Games, the 2000 Olympics and the 1998 Junior World Championships the latter in which he won a lightweight silver medal.
Having begun his professional career in 2001, Cotto defeated Kelson Pinto for the WBO light welterweight title in 2004. He made six successful defenses before vacating the title to move up in weight. In his first welterweight fight, in 2006, Cotto defeated Carlos Quintana for the vacant WBA title. He successfully defended it four times before a career first loss to Antonio Margarito in 2008. The following year, Cotto won the vacant WBO welterweight title and defended it once before losing it to Manny Pacquiao in the same year.
Cotto started out his career as a hard-hitting pressure fighter but evolved over the years into a more refined boxer-puncher type. In 2010 he moved up another division to light middleweight and won the WBA title from Yuri Foreman. Having been promoted by the WBA to Super champion status, Cotto won a 2011 rematch against Antonio Margarito. In 2012 he lost the WBA (Super) title to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in one of the most anticipated fights in modern boxing history. The year would end on a further sour note for Cotto, as he suffered an upset defeat to WBA champion Austin Trout.
Four Division Champion
Two years later, Cotto defeated Sergio Martinez to win the unified WBC,Ring, and lineal middleweight titles. In doing so, he became the first four-weight world champion from Puerto Rico. In 2015, he defended his titles once before losing to Canelo Alvarez.
Cotto may not have a pristine record like Mayweather or rumbled through weight classes like Pacquiao, but he’s one of the most important fighters in the last two decades who never backed down from an opponent, no matter their age, size or strength.
You’ll be hard pressed to find another fighter who faced peak level opposition like Cotto did. He never waited for the “right time” to take on an opponent because anytime was the right time. Take a look at his resume for proof: Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Sergio Martinez and Canelo Alvarez are just a few of the names that he faced. Not to mention the likes of Paulie Malignaggi, Ricardo Torres, DeMarcus Corley, Randall Bailey, Carlos Quintana, Austin Trout, Joshua Clottey and Carlos Maussa. If you wanted to fight Miguel Cotto, Miguel Cotto wanted to fight you. And it was very rare that you’d ever find him in a boring fight.
No, he’s not fighting Canelo or GGG, but why should he? He was always too small for the middleweight division and really had no business ever fighting there. He’s been through enough wars and a fight with Ali still presents a challenge for the 36-year-old.
By:Chris Henderson
The Quinta fight was legendary and along with amateur rival Pinto, Cotto beat numerous undefeated fighters (I think 9 total) including Paulie M. The guy has only delivered memorable and entertaining fights including loses – you always got your moneys worth with a Cotto fight. It’s exactly why I call this the end of the May/Pac/Cotto era – along with the Klitschko era
Cotto has a loyal fanbase and had *significantly successful viewship for numerous bouts. I wish the Mayweather fight happened around 0’8/0’9 – like it deserved, but it obviously wouldn’t have happened with the Arum/Mayweather feud. I’ll be looking forward to this last bout with Ali, because win/lose or draw – it spells entertainment. Thank you for the legendary contribution in boxing, Miguel.