Don't write Cotto off!

By by Liam Fitzgerald: Miguel Cotto is moving up in weight in order to fight WBA light middleweight champ Yuri Foreman in his next fight but many pundits are already questioning his decision. From reading websites and forums, a lot of people are making Foreman favourite. To be honest, this shocks me due to the Israeli’s lack of experience at championship level and mainly because Cotto is still an elite fighter. Fair enough, Cotto was overwhelmed by Manny Pacquiao in their clash in November but this is not something to be overly ashamed of. Cotto early on was a match for Pacquiao but he met the Filipino in top form and his good work was undone after the knockdowns. He became a lot more ragged and played into Pacquiao’s hands who was able to pick him off at ease. However, as I said any fighter would have struggled against Pacquiao that night and the Puerto Rican should not be written off because of that fight. In fact, Cotto showed the exact thing that he was being criticised for lacking in his only other defeat against Antonio Margarito. After quitting against the Mexican, Cotto’s heart was queried but despite taking a beating against Manny, he was determined to see through the 12 rounds. That much is clear from his reaction to the fight being stopped. Cotto is in a similar position to Ricky Hatton in my view. Now, he is looked at as being shot, having only lost to the best two fighters in the world even though he had beaten all the top contenders in his weight class. Exactly the same as Cotto at welterweight whose victories have came against great boxers in title clashes. Cotto is still a top class fighter and showed that he can mix it up between brawling and boxing in his against Joshua Clottey. He suffered a horrendous cut in the fight but took the decision by showing some great outside boxing in the final 4 rounds that confused the Ghanaian and prevented him from worsening the damage around the eye. He was criticized heavily after this fight but I don’t see why. If it had been anyone else they would have been applauded but unfair concerns over his heart led people to believe that he was in some way afraid. That couldn’t be further from the truth. For me, Cotto should be heavy favourite for this bout. Foreman is not in any way a heavy puncher who could cause damage to Cotto and I would expect Cotto to walk through his punches and pressurize the Israeli in a way he has never been tested before. Provided he win, then it is quite clear that the fight Cotto should pursue is against Margarito. That defeat will still hurt him and following the hand wraps controversy, there is a possibility that he wasn’t beaten legitimately. I think Cotto knows that rectifying that defeat will improve his legacy and the fight could easily be made at 154 lbs so I see the Foreman fight being a great warm up bout for him, as well as giving him the chance for a world title in a 3rd weight class.