Cotto's legacy after Martinez

You know, boxing fans, that Cotto is doing it again! Just envisage Mayweather's resume highlighted with fights against a prime Margarito and Pacquiao. And could you really see Mayweather jumping to the 160lb division to take on Martinez? SO IF Cotto does the unimaginable. If he beats Martinez to capture the middleweight title to elevate his status as a 4-division champion (& 18-4 Championship record) - how will history evaluate the Puerto Rican's legacy in the sport? It may be unimaginable to some, and perhaps understandably so, that Cotto doesn't have what it takes to do it. Given he struggled with Trout's movement and awkwardness. And looked a step slow against Mayweather (despite winning arguably 4-5 rounds), the critics assert that Cotto's time is over. The flipside to the coin is that Roach may have rejuvenated Cotto, and with the right tactical advice (which he so struggled with against Pacquiao due to having no trainer), Cotto comes out right to seal his legacy as one of the modern era's true champions, ensuring his place in the Hall of Fame.

Comments (20)

Da_Boxer

at 140-won a vacant title at 147-won 2 vacant titles at 154-beat foreman so his divisional titles are not impressive at all ...but Miguel is not ducking and hiding behind his fans! Cotto faced a Monster-Prime-(may be a roid packing) Pac with no trainer, took on Margacheto when he was being avoided by all...including your idol...FMJr., beat a much younger and closer to his prime Mosley (around 3 years EARLIER THAN FMJr.!) and its about to get in the ring with Sergio which FMJr. will NOT do.

12y ago

Da_Boxer

Why are soo many avoiding the question? The question is IF he gets the decisive victory, How will his legacy be looked at in the sport? Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! The reason behind his that Cotto haters come out like cucarachas on every time Cotto's name is mentioned in a good or not so good thread. They pollute and trash the threads with their cucaracha $h1t and over plain trash.

12y ago

PRPOWERPUNCHES

at 140-won a vacant title at 147-won 2 vacant titles at 154-beat foreman so his divisional titles are not impressive at all TO YOU & COTTO CAN STILL WALK AROUND WIT HIS DICK IN HIS HAND AND SAY I NEVER DUCKED NOBODY!! PRPP:boxing:

12y ago

GhostBlade

Cotto needs to have another fight with Pacquiao where he can get paid and then he should retire win or lose after that fight.

12y ago

ColdBlooded

As far as I'm aware, he's never been lineal champion of any weight division. Right?

12y ago

LarryX

at 140-won a vacant title at 147-won 2 vacant titles at 154-beat foreman so his divisional titles are not impressive at all

12y ago

PRPOWERPUNCHES

He was not. Cotto was touted as a superstar from his 140lb days, he was a heavy favourite to beat Quintana. Stop the nonsense. If Cotto beats Martinez, it will be his best win yet IMO. Don't see it happening though. I agree with the Indio comment but one of his real big fights was the Kelson Pinto fight IMO... PRPP:boxing:

12y ago

Lords

What is Cotto doing again? Martinez would be a good win for him but it doesn't make his losses go away. Cotto is past prime and Martinez is way past prime. I heard the fight is going to be at a catchweight of 159 so even if he wins he didn't win the true 160 pound title. A win over Martinez would help his legacy and he would become more overrated than he already is. How is Martinez "way past prime" when his last loss was in 09 to Paul which he avenged. Sure he looked a little sloppy in the Murray fight but he looked superb against Chavez the fight before. Since when does looking sloppy in a fight make you "past prime"? There are a lot of current fighters in the primes who have had sloppy fights but it doesn't mean their "past prime". When Cotto beats Martinez this all we will hear, "Sergio is past prime".

12y ago

Dirk_Diggler_UK

Cotto was the underdog against Quintana though... it has nothing to do with his quality of a fighter just people made bad betting lines. He was not. Cotto was touted as a superstar from his 140lb days, he was a heavy favourite to beat Quintana. Stop the nonsense. If Cotto beats Martinez, it will be his best win yet IMO. Don't see it happening though.

12y ago

Beater_of_ass

I stopped reading at this point :rofl: Cotto was the underdog against Quintana though... it has nothing to do with his quality of a fighter just people made bad betting lines. This fight is intriguing because usually Sergio is giving up all the physical advantages in reach, power, height and weight but is the better overall fighter. This time he will have the physical advantage but Cotto is the better boxer hands down, and it's that kind of style that gives Martinez's style all kinds of problems. If it was just based off of that I would favor Sergio though because he is the bigger fighter at a higher weight, the layoff and injuries make this fight winnable for Cotto. Losing to the MW champion while moving up isn't a bad loss (not a 3 round KO) but no one nowadays fights the man when moving up or even at the full weight limit on top of that. If he were to win, he's already a first ballot HoF'r in my mind but anyone saying he isn't after that are full of sh*t, again should he win.

12y ago

Jsmooth9876

Cotto isn't even a Jr Middleweight! Martinez should meet him in the middle. Roach says Cotto should get back to 147lbs! I agree with Roach..Even a shot Cotto could possibly beat Porter, Paulie again, Maidana, Broner....maybe even Thurman who knows..154 lbers are way too big for him as Trout proved..

12y ago

Dirk_Diggler_UK

Because that's the ignorance in you. Carlos Quintana may not be a great boxer, but a fighter should receive credit where it's due for winning a fight where the consensus had it against him. But they weren't. He was nowhere near an underdog against Carlos Quintana

12y ago

ColdBlooded

Cotto isn't even a Jr Middleweight! Martinez should meet him in the middle. Roach says Cotto should get back to 147lbs! If he's not even a junior middleweight then why is he fighting for the lineal championship at middleweight? That he is means he should not attempt a significant catchweight. Now, 157 would be significant as that is substantially lower than what Martinez has weighed in his past few fights. 159 is not because that's about where Martinez tends to weigh in. Point is, Cotto shouldn't try to force Martinez to lose extra weight if he wants to fight for the legitimate middleweight championship of the world.

12y ago

freethinkersam

Why are soo many avoiding the question? The question is IF he gets the decisive victory, How will his legacy be looked at in the sport? That in itself is revealing. We'll see what they say if he does win.

12y ago

freethinkersam

He shouldn't catchweight Martinez at 157 unless he wants question marks over the victory. I'm not sure it would make any difference, but there would be an asterisk next to any potential victory. And no way Cotto takes Martinez's power. Even Chavez Jr. couldn't walk through Martinez's punches. If Cotto is getting hurt by the likes of Austin Trout, he isn't taking Martinez's punches. Cotto isn't even a Jr Middleweight! Martinez should meet him in the middle. Roach says Cotto should get back to 147lbs!

12y ago

Rikanlynx86

Why are soo many avoiding the question? The question is IF he gets the decisive victory, How will his legacy be looked at in the sport?

12y ago

ColdBlooded

12y ago

freethinkersam

Why does it matter who he fought if he lost to all them? People give me credit for fighting Floyd PAC and marg like he actually beat them or something It matters because 1 of the greatest fighters of our generation in Floyd Mayweather Jr blatantly ducked some of the fights Cotto took on. Floyd wanted no part of a prime & busy Margarito. Not after his shady win over Castillo. He steered clear of a 2007 version of Mosley and instead boxed the face-first Hatton for the money. Box Azteca actually scored the fight for Murray against Martinez. IF Cotto can take Martinez's power, this could be an interesting fight. I don't like the fight though because Cotto isn't even a fully-fledged 154lb-er! He should catchweight Martinez at 157lbs and meet in the middle.

12y ago

HanzGruber

Why does it matter who he fought if he lost to all them? People give me credit for fighting Floyd PAC and marg like he actually beat them or something

12y ago

Jsmooth9876

I watched Martinez-Murray. Best case for Martinez would be a 114-113 scorecard. He apparently suffered a broken hand? And I read a report somewhere that his knee is (or was) injured? You have to remember that at 39, and out for nearly 18-months, will Martinez even be anywhere near the level he was in his last shady win against Murray? I predict Cotto to come out strong, standing his ground and using his jab to set up the left hooks and right hands. Whilst he boxed a lower ranked fighter in his last bout, he looked hungry with an improved repertoire from training with Roach. I think Cotto's right hand is gonna come out in the fight. Question is, will Cotto be able to take Martinez power? People forget Martinez, besides his movement and speed, has dropped legitimate middleweight consistently over the last few years. If his knee and hand are 100% healed, I can't see how Cotto can win this fight..

12y ago