Great Interview with Miguel Cotto

Most people believe this fight against Mayweather should have taken place five years ago. From your point of view, why hasn't it happened until now? First of all, I'm always available to face everyone. My feeling is that if the fight didn't happen before, then it wasn't right for my case . It is available now and will happen this year on Saturday, May 5, so I am going to be prepared. Was the Mayweather fight one that you pushed for through the years at any point behind the scenes with Bob Arum? I never pushed for it at any time before. I would just see what is the best fight that I can get fight by fight. This one is the best one for me now. This is the best chapter in my career so far. You do look somewhat reborn at junior middleweight, especially under new trainer Pedro Diaz in your most recent fight. How different are you as a fighter now, compared to your early prime before the 2008 loss to Margarito? I have always tried to be just a power puncher and work . That's exactly how I always want to fight. But like I told Pedro before, Margarito stole from myself a lot of things with the first loss of my career. When we started in preparation for against him, I felt more energetic and better. Margarito stole things from me, and now I am back. Are you referring to Margarito "stealing" your unbeaten invincibility when he defeated you using allegedly loaded hand wraps? How much doubt did you experience after that fight? How important was it for you to defeat him so convincingly in the rematch? In the beginning, right after the loss, there were moments that I felt this way. But now I trust myself. Beating him helped me close that for good. The huge thing about the victory was to prove to the world what he did in 2008. What is it about working with Diaz that has made you so comfortable? He brings like another kind of training. He brings new things to me that I have never done before. Those kinds of things make my training more challenging. They have made me more comfortable in trusting myself. What does landing this fight with Mayweather and the possibility of winning it mean to you at this point in your career? I am pretty excited. But I am more excited for getting into the gym, getting into my camp and being prepared enough for anything he can bring. This is going to be my best and biggest victory for everyone to see on May 5. It seems no one has put Mayweather in any kind of danger over a series of consecutive rounds since Jose Luis Castillo in 2002. Given the success of Floyd's defensive and counterpunching abilities, how much will you have to alter your style in order to be effective against him? No matter which way Mayweather comes, I will prepare myself for anything he brings to the fight. If he decides to run or if he decides to stand and fight, I will be prepared. My life circumstances are better right now, and I will be ready. With regard to those life circumstances, it seems you've achieved a level of peace unlike that at any other point in your career. Would you agree with that perception, and how has that translated to inside the ring? The way I live now is a better way. I have better circumstances and I have my whole family beside me. That has made me work and think better inside the ring. The Mayweather fight will be the first of your career without Top Rank. Does that mean anything come fight night, or is it just business and something completely separate from the ring? I have to give thanks to Top Rank and to Bob , Todd and others. They made me the boxer that I am today. But it's a new chapter in my career. Like they said before, it's a free-agent chapter and I'm going to enjoy it. Now I can understand the business better and I can go into places I have never been before because has been there with me before. They have been my promoters. But now I am like my own promoter. There were rumors before you signed for this fight that you were going to face Manny Pacquiao in a rematch. How close was the fight to coming off, and is getting a chance to avenge the loss something you're still interested in? I'm always available for the big names and the biggest opportunities in my career. After this fight, if something like Pacquiao would be available, I could be interested. A few things happened in our fight -- I didn't keep the rhythm of the first two or three rounds. But now, with Pedro, he is the kind of trainer who is going to help me get into the perfect rhythm to get the victory. How much do you think the pending prison sentence could affect Mayweather leading up to the fight? Do you think that he has slowed down at all or shown signs of slipping at age 35? I don't know if he feels or felt his best before, but the only thing I have in my mind is that I have to get myself into my best shape and be in the best condition. I can't tell you these kinds of things stay in his mind. But it be easy for a person to have the knowledge that in a few days after the fight, they have to go to jail, and keep this situation in your mind and train and go through your life. But I think he is pretty tough. Finally, you turned 31 recently, and it's no secret you are in the second half of your career. Do you ever think about your legacy and how you want to be remembered? I just want to be remembered like one of the good boxers in . But the most important thing for me is what my family and what my kids think about me. That is all I have to care about.