Is Miguel Cotto a future hall of famer?

It seems as if Miguel Cotto has been around since the late 1980s, but the former two-division titleholder turned pro in early 2001 and is only 29. Despite recent setbacks, the Puerto Rican star’s career is far from over. However, Cotto’s already shaky status as an elite fighter could end if he loses his challenge to junior middleweight beltholder Yuri Foreman on Saturday. If the Belarus-born Brooklyn-based Israeli beats Cotto (34-2, 27 knockouts), it’s very likely the Puerto Rican will become a high-profile gatekeeper for up-and-comers if he decides to continue fighting and we all know he’s too proud to be anyone’s stepping stone. Cotto is the slight betting favorite. Based on his accomplishments and his opponent’s comparative lack of world-class opposition, he deserves to be. However, more than a few boxing writers and insiders believe Foreman (28-0, 8 KOs) will pull off the minor upset. Those picking Foreman to win do so with Cotto’s brutal late-rounds stoppages to Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao in mind as much as the style matchup, which doesn’t appear to favor the veteran. So, it’s conceivable that Saturday’s HBO-televised showdown from the new Yankee Stadium in Bronx, N.Y., could be Cotto’s last fight. If it is, what kind of a career did he have? When Top Rank signed Cotto almost 10 years ago, the Las Vegas-based promotional company touted the 2000 Olympian as a blue-chip prospect with the potential to replace Felix Trinidad as the boxing icon of Puerto Rico. Put short, Cotto was going to do big things. Top Rank president Bob Arum proudly proclaimed Cotto to be a future first-ballot hall of famer at the post-fight press conference after his first title-winning effort, an impressive sixth-round stoppage of amateur rival Kelson Pinto in September of 2004. Top Rank helped develop Cotto into a bona fide attraction in Puerto Rico and New York City over the next four years, as the fighter battled top 140-pound opposition before stepping up to welterweight, where he won another title and earned pound-for-pound status by taking on the best fighters of the 147-pound division. And yet, Cotto may have fallen short of Arum’s bold prediction. Despite his popularity and accomplishments, most hardcore fans believe Cotto is closer to former welterweight titleholder Ike Quartey than Trinidad; a borderline hall of famer as opposed to a first-ballot inductee. “Miguel Cotto in the hall of fame? Only as soon as Harry Jeffra gets in,” boxing historian Bert Sugar told RingTV.com. In other words, there are fighters with better credentials than Cotto who deserve more hall of fame consideration. “Cotto is on the cusp,” Sugar continued. “He’s won three championships in two divisions. That’s not bad, but it’s not enough. A win on Saturday would give him a title in a third division, which would extend his career, but I’m not sure that makes him hall of fame worthy. There are more accomplished fighters I believe are on the cusp -- Oscar De La Hoya for instance -- that I would vote in before Cotto. “Don't get me wrong. Cotto’s had a heck of a career. He beat a lot of good fighters and he’s the biggest ticket seller out of Puerto Rico right now, but I can’t call what he’s had so far a great career because he lost his two biggest fights, to Margarito and Pacquiao.” Sugar makes a good point, but it should be noted that Margarito and Pacquiao are just two of 13 fighters Cotto has faced who have held world titles. Cotto beat the others, two of whom -- Zab Judah and Shane Mosley -- were once recognized as champions by THE RING. Even Cotto’s most ardent critics acknowledge that he never sought the easy road to recognition. Foreman will be the sixth in-his-prime, undefeated fighter Cotto has faced. Of the previous five -- which includes Carlos Quintana and Paulie Malignaggi -- only one, Pinto, has not gone on to win a world title after Cotto beat him. So it seems harsh to penalize him for the only two losses of his career. Then again, getting into the hall of fame is supposed to hard, right? “The criteria to get into the hall of fame is to be 'great' and great fighters win their biggest fights,” Sugar said. “I’ve never heard anyone use ‘great’ as an adjective to describe Cotto. “I don’t think he ever really picked up the mantle from Felix Trinidad among Puerto Rican fight fans. Some fighters get extra points for their fan base, for having the ability, the charisma to ‘wow’ them. Jack Dempsey is one. People saw him as great at the time he fought. Muhammad Ali said he was great, people saw him as great and that resonated with his generation. I think the word ‘great’ is needed to get into the hall of fame.” It should be, but is it? “The hall of fame has its share of inductees who aren’t great,” said Cliff Rold, a young historian who writes for BoxingScene.com. “Rocky Graziano made for great fights but he wasn’t a great fighter. Half of the heavyweights in the hall of fame don’t deserve to be there. Way too much credit is given to the heavyweight title. Ingemar Johansson is in there for one good victory. Pretty much every former heavyweight champ better than Primo Carnera is in there. “I think Cotto deserves consideration based on his body of work. No, he’s not dynamic, he never stood out in any one area, and he was never considered ‘great,’ but I think he could be a victim of circumstance. He stepped up to the welterweight division at a time when it was packed with dangerous, formidable fighters and he didn’t duck anyone.” Indeed. From the time of Cotto’s welterweight debut, in December of 2006, seven of the nine 147 pounders he’s fought -- including Quintana, Mosley and Joshua Clottey -- were ranked by THE RING. http://www.ringtv.com/blog/1986/is_miguel_cotto_a_future_hall_of_famer/