Cotto Credits Career Resurgence To Roach's Wizardry

By Jake Donovan

Through nearly 15 years in the pro ranks, there are certain things we’ve come to learn about Miguel Cotto. He’s never going to be that boxer who leaves you with gripping sound bites. He’s never been one to call out another fighter – in fact the one quote with which he would leave reporters to confirm both claims was “I fight who they put in front of me.”

Figure out what Cotto truly loves and you’re finally left with something different. The list is not very long: his family, his livelihlood - and his fighter/trainer relationship with Hall of Fame chief second Freddie Roach.

He obviously loves to let his fists do the talking. That’s about all he was willing to reveal in the buildup to Saturday’s anticipated showdown with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, which airs live on HBO Pay-Per-View from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Even the fight itself is just another night in the office for Cotto, who refers to the event as “my fight No. 45, nothing special with it.”

It’s not at all how he describes any given day training with Roach… or how anyone observing from the outside would describe their training sessions.

“Having visited Miguel in training camp, I was simply blown away by this man's commitment and intensity,” noted Michael Yormark, president and chief of branding & strategy for Roc Nation Sports, which along with Golden Boy Promotions presents this weekend’s show. “I know when (Roc Nation founder and entertainment mogul) Jay-Z and some of Roc Nation's partners visited him over the last couple of weeks, they came away with that same impression.

“You know, I've never seen an athlete so determined, so focused and passionate about the task in front of him. There is no one that works harder than Miguel Cotto. He wants to be at his very best (this) Saturday night and even as a four-time champion and a living legend and future Hall of Famer, he takes absolutely nothing for granted and leaves nothing to chance in preparation for this epic match-up.”

Cotto (40-4, 33KOs) reached a point in his career where he knew change was needed if he were to retire himself rather than the game retire him. As 2012 became 2013, the boxing superstar was a former three-division champ, sitting on back-to-back losses – dropping 12-round decisions to Floyd Mayweather and Austin Trout in separate title fights - and unsure of what the future had in store.

Next came a phone conversation that forever changed his boxing life, also coming right on time for Roach as well. Cotto headed out to Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif. in July ’13 to prepare for his comeback fight later that year versus Delvin Rodriguez.

Roach is never short on clientele, but at the time was still in the process of getting Manny Pacquiao back into the win column. His most famous – and most successful – client was months removed from a shocking 6th round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in Dec. ’12 and was a month or so away from opening up camp for a comeback fight versus Brandon Rios by the time Cotto entered the fold.

An interesting sidebar at the time was that Cotto and Pacquiao previously met in the ring. Pacquiao earned a 12th round knockout win in their Nov. ’09 clash, winning a welterweight belt to become the only fighter in history to claim title status in seven weight classes (adding an eighth one year later).

The loss left no hard feelings with Cotto, who heading into the summer of 2013 knew a move to Roach was what his career needed.

“Everything happens when it is the time to happen,” Cotto explains, simply accepting the past rather than wallowing in regret. “I arrived three years ago, and my career had a different way to go right now because of Freddie, because of what Freddie did to myself, and that's all, you know? I don't know what should happen in our career if Freddie was with us before. Nobody can know that.”

Prior to reaching out, nobody outside of Cotto and those closest to him knew the union was in his plans.

“We have a lot of respect for each other, and you know we had a history going against each other, even, with the Pacquiao fight,” Roach recalled of the day he received the call from Cotto. “But the thing is, we became friends, and he called me up and asked if I could help…it was one of the best phone calls I've ever gotten.

“I was shocked that a fighter of that caliber called and asked me to give him a hand, and it has worked out really well. We get along really well. My whole camp gets along well with his camp, Marvin (Somodio) and all the guys - we all get along. We train really hard together. It's a team effort, and it works well together, everything fits perfectly. We've had three great fights so far, and I expect the best one to be coming up soon.”

The first live-run came in Oct. ’13, when Cotto showed signs of the version that tore through the super lightweight and welterweight divisions earlier in his career. A three-round destruction of Delvin Rodriguez was more about rebuilding the Cotto brand than confirmation that he was all the way back, but it was enough to pave the way for the biggest win of his boxing career.

Few gave Cotto a legitimate chance of what everyone assumed was a rested-up version of then-World middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. The classy boxer from Argentina was on the sidelines since a narrow points win over Martin Murray in April ’13, nursing a surgically repaired knee before agreeing to terms to face the Puerto Rican superstar in hostile territory.

Their clash last June took place at Madison Square Garden on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City. Cotto owned the holiday weekend, his record 5-0 at the time (four wins at MSG, one at Yankee Stadium) and 7-1 overall at MSG but never entering a fight as the betting underdog in the venue. That couldn’t be said of his World middleweight title challenge versus Martinez, who was a 3-1 favorite to keep his reign intact.

Cotto and Roach had other ideas, devising a strategy that produced immediate effects – flooring the champ three times in the opening round and once more in the ninth before forcing him to quit prior to the start of round ten.

The win came with the distinction of becoming the first- and to date, only – boxer from Puerto Rico to claim titles in four separate weight classes. It solidified his credentials for eventual Hall of Fame enshrinement, which he’d already be on his way to earning eligibility status had he chosen to call it career that night, the epitome of going out on a high note.

Instead, he decided there was more of him left to offer the sport.

Although plans for an Alvarez clash didn’t work out when they first negotiated the fight last year, Cotto sensed that greater moments were to come in his career. It’s what drove him to return to the ring this past June, stopping former middleweight titlist Daniel Geale in four rounds, racking up his third consecutive knockout in as many fights with Roach.

It’s what gave him the confidence to enter the Geale fight knowing a showdown with Alvarez waited in the wings. Long before opening up camp, fighter and trainer had lengthy discussions about how – and how not to – go about their strategy for what can either become the greatest accomplishment or a tragic loss in an already storied career.

“We developed a good chemistry between us. We can talk about our plans, what is going to be best for us during the fight, and we have -- our chemistry is the best thing we have with each other,” Cotto points out. “It makes our relationship and our fights together the way they have been for us.”

It’s been noted that Roach has ramped up the intensity in this training camp, pushing his client to the limit. The obvious sense is that they both realize what’s at stake. Perhaps it’s also Roach’s way of just trying to keep up with his fighter, an issue he’s never before faced.

“I’ve never worked with anyone who is as dedicated as Miguel in training,” Roach noted, a bold statement considering the epic workouts Pacquiao has held over the years.

However, with the legendary Filipino southpaw in camp also comes a certain level of distraction that always seems to surround his career. That is never at all the case with Cotto, who is all business whether in camp or in the ring.

“I try, I get up as early as possible to be at our first session by 5:00 a.m.,” Roach reveals. “Damn it if he’s not already there, ready to go.”

Perhaps it’s because – at age 35, more than 15 years after representing Puerto Rico in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and coming up on 15 full years in the pro ranks – this is what makes him tick.

“Boxing is the only thing I know to do in life,” Cotto admits. “I've been working for the benefit of my family. I said before that I'm going to retire myself. I am 35 years old. I plan to be in boxing no longer than a year from now.”

There is no doubt that when thay day should come, he plans to go out with a bang in the ring… even if the verbal retirement speech to follow comes out no louder than a whisper.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene,com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox