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Cotto is a protected fighter. At 140, Arum stated that he'd consider a fight with Floyd, but it would be bigger in a year and a half or two.. In other words, I'm gonna protect Cotto by having him fight journeymen and 36 year old former champions, before I throw him in there with the p4p kings and big dogz at welter weight.Comment
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The Manny Steward who said this about PBF
"Logic dictates that you have to go with Mayweather," said Steward, who in addition to his duties as an expert analyst for HBO, recently trained former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. "Regardless of what some people may think, he's a fantastic fighter. He may talk and all that (BS), but he's still a great fighter - a phenomenal fighter. Based on his talent and skill, I'm going with Floyd."Comment
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Exactly......In my eyes Cottos has proved nothing.
Floyd has breaten some top dogs.
Corralles and Castillo are equivalent to Cotto beating Clottey-Williams.
Til Then..as far as miguel is concerned Im not impressed he has a crowd pleasing style and is a hard punch and a get guy..but so was Edison Miranda..and well you know...Comment
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After the Gatti fight
Miguel Cotto also sat ringside looking like a middleweight and he had to be thinking at this early stage “I don’t want any part of that action”. Top Rank concurs. Cotto is Bob Arum’s link to the future, and his relationship with the self proclaimed ‘Flamboyant One’ is contentious at best. Do any of us believe Arum would risk Floyd ruining his cash cow on his way to free agency? Would any of us buy a green, stylistic schizophrenic as a possible threat to boxing’s version of advanced Trigonometry? Look for Arum to nurse Cotto to millions and try to catch Floyd at welterweight in his 30’s. Three down. Now is the time to load up on the carbs.
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COTTO'S RITE OF PASSAGE
It seems strange to say that having to fight a 5'-7 welterweight is a tall order, but in Zab Judah, Miguel Cotto is facing just that. And more.
by Nat Gottlieb
Despite having a 29-0 record and championship belts from two weight divisions, Cotto still has something to prove with this fight. The question he will have to answer on June 9 is can he be the same elite fighter at this weight class as he was when dominating the junior welterweight division.
Because of Cotto's size (5' 7") the Puerto Rican star will in most welterweight fights be giving away significant height and reach advantage. The locked and loaded welterweight division's best fighters are all about four inches taller and average a 72-inch reach, five more than Cotto's. Even Judah, although the same height as Cotto, has a 72- inch reach. The countryman that Cotto has been compared to since the Olympics -- the great Felix Trinidad -- was also a prototypical welterweight. Trinidad was 5'11 with a 72-reach when he racked up a 16-0 record in world championship fights at this weight class.
"When he moved up to 147, Cotto was already a force in the welterweight division," said Bruce Trampler, Top Rank's longtime matchmaker. "Boxing people know that he was a welterweight who trained down to 140. Since his Olympic days, Miguel has been an elite fighter. He is the only guy who can beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. Is that elite enough?"You can quote all the clichés about the size of a man's heart or the amount of fight in the dog, but the fact remains Miguel Cotto is an undersized welterweight.
Cotto's promotion team at Top Rank dismisses the notion that height or reach will hold back their fighter.
"When he moved up to 147, Cotto was already a force in the welterweight division," said Bruce Trampler, Top Rank's longtime matchmaker. "Boxing people know that he was a welterweight who trained down to 140. Since his Olympic days, Miguel has been an elite fighter. He is the only guy who can beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. Is that elite enough?"
Another question not so easily dismissed is Cotto's somewhat porous defense. As a junior welterweight, twice he was rocked by fighters his own size. In 2005, he was staggered by DeMarcus Corley in a brutal fight in which the challenger landed several hard punches before Cotto took him out on a 5th round TKO. Later that year, the unbeaten and then unheralded Ricardo Torres knocked Cotto down in the second round, but again Cotto went on to win, a 7th round knockout against an opponent who is now a junior welterweight champ.
The Torres fight left many wondering about Cotto's chin, and it would seem a valid question in a division with some really heavy hitters, such as Antonio Margarito, Kermit Cintron, Shane Mosley and Paul Williams. Trampler, however, does not think Cotto's chin is in play.
"Miguel had real tough battles with Corley and Torres, but even greats like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis and Felix Trinidad were all floored several times in their careers," Trampler said. "Two unknowns (Narciso Valenzuela, Giorgio Campanella) dropped Oscar De La Hoya (both 1st round) at 130 pounds."
As for height, Trampler points out that, "Cotto usually has a height disadvantage and nobody has beaten him yet. The top welterweights are world-class punchers for sure, but none of them has yet been hit by Miguel. They should all be worried about the power and boxing skills of Cotto."
Cotto certainly demonstrated that power when he broke Paulie Malagnaggi's jaw early on in their fight last June, but the challenger managed to make it through 12 rounds in that condition. For a supposedly hard-hitter, Cotto's inability to finish off Malagnaggi raised some eyebrows. As it turned out, Cotto had an excuse.
"Miguel suffered several hand injuries during the fight with Malignaggi, who was very talented and brave and determined to survive for 12 rounds," Trampler said. "Cotto was far from 100 per cent that night."
Trampler feels the comparisons to Trinidad are neither valid nor useful. In fact, Trampler thinks Cotto is a better all-around fighter.
"I give all respect to Tito. He was a top man in his generation. But there can be no comparison between Trinidad and Miguel, because they have different body types, different styles and different personalities. Cotto is very intelligent, like Tito, but he is a shorter, thicker, clubbing puncher, as opposed to the taller, sharper-hitting Trinidad. Cotto is a more complete fighter than Tito, in that he can lead or counter, box or slug. He goes to the body better and is a more lethal finisher than Trinidad," Trampler said.
Judah has made it abundantly clear he does not see Cotto the same way Trampler does.
"Cotto is a one-dimensional fighter," Judah said. "He is a robotic fighter, and when you match a great, great fighter against a robot there's going to be a malfunction."
Although Judah lost to both Carlos Baldomir and Mayweather last year, he remains a very skilled, slick fighter who also packs a significant punch. As such, he will be the first genuine top welterweight Cotto has faced, after previously knocking out the light-hitting Carlos Quintana and Oktay Urkal in his first two ventures into the division.
In fact, Judah will be the first fighter with power that Cotto has faced since being knocked down by Torres. After the Torres fight, Cotto closed out his 140-pound career beating a less-than-lethal Italian, Gianluca Branco, and Malignaggi, who has just five knockouts among his 21 victories.
"Zab Judah is Miguel's most dangerous foe to date," Trampler acknowledged. "But Cotto has a battle plan to defeat the hard-hitting lefty. The ring at Madison Square Garden (site of the fight) is large and favors Judah, who fights like Corey Spinks with a big punch. But Cotto neither begs nor grants any mercy in the ring. He is a warrior who understands the problems posed by Zab, and knows what he must do to win."
Judah would not have been Cotto's most dangerous foe to date had Trampler found a way to get Ricky Hatton into the ring. Trampler revealed for the first time that Top Rank had been trying to make a Hatton-Cotto fight happen at junior welterweight.
"For the last two years, Cotto has been willing to fight Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton at what ever weight," Trampler said. "Get this straight: Cotto ducks nobody. Here's a scoop for you: there were numerous discussions with the Hatton people, but Ricky went up to 147 and then came back down. Miguel is staying at welterweight. But Hatton knows where to find Cotto when he wants to get it on. Floyd is the most skilled boxer in the world, an immensely talented athlete, but he won't beat Miguel Cotto."
That being said, Trampler is candid enough to admit that Judah, if he fights his fight, might have a good chance to beat his boxer.
"If Cotto allows Judah to box his (Zab's) fight, Miguel will lose," Trampler said. "If on the other hand Cotto asserts himself and implements his strategy, he will emerge undefeated. You have to give Zab lots of credit and respect, and on paper he knows how to beat Cotto."
Judah will need more than paper credentials to defeat Cotto, however, Trampler said.
"When Zab climbs through the ropes at MSG on June 9, he is going to look across the ring and stare Death in the face. It's going to take a lot of skill and tons of heart to defeat Miguel Cotto. He (Cotto) has been knocked down, dazed and hurt, but his hand is the one they always raise after the final bell," Trampler said.
If that is the case on June 9, then Cotto will have successfully passed through the gateway leading to the elite fighters of the division. As it was said recently of another fight, the world awaits a clearer picture on Miguel Cotto, "new" kid on the crowded welterweight block.Comment
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