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By Thomas Gerbasi
NEW YORK, November 15 – With a quiet class, Miguel Cotto strolled through the Copacabana club in midtown Manhattan Monday, instantly justifying comparisons to his fellow Puerto Rican Felix Trinidad, as both pack a charisma that doesn’t require speaking English (though Cotto understands the language perfectly).
And for the two Boricuas, all that needs to be said takes place once the bell rings.
But while the unbeaten WBO junior welterweight champion is happy to receive such comparisons to Trinidad, he has no intentions of riding on his countryman’s coattails.
"It’s something that’s very nice when people talk about me that way, but I want to write my own story," said Cotto through Top Rank publicist Ricardo Jimenez. "I want to be known as myself. Everything that I’ve done so far and everything that I’m going to do in the future is just going to be Miguel Cotto."
So far, it’s been all thumbs up for the native of Caguas, who has drawn rave reviews in his four year career, and who has even won over some of the cynics who were slow to jump on the bandwagon, thanks to a stellar 2004 that has seen him score three wins over quality opposition, two via knockout.
On December 11, Cotto (21-0, 17 KOs) returns to Las Vegas for the seventh time in his young career when he defends his title against former champion Randall Bailey (28-4, 27 KOs) on the Vitali Klitschko-Danny Williams undercard at Mandalay Bay. For Cotto, performing on pay-per-view has become old hat (this is his seventh appearance), removing virtually all pressure from the 24-year-old, who likes performing on the world stage.
"You always want to do well in these big fights," said Cotto.
And they’ll only get bigger in the future. One of the best 140-pounders in the world behind Kostya Tszyu, Cotto has reached the point where the ‘learning’ fights are over. He’s faced the journeymen, dispatched of the former champions, took care of a fellow prospect, and after this ‘keep busy’ defense against the hard-hitting Bailey, he’s got the likes of Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Vivian Harris, Ricky Hatton, or Arturo Gatti to look forward to, making it very obvious that 2005 could be the year when a new Puerto Rican superstar takes the reigns. And in a rare occurrence these days, Cotto and his promotional and managerial teams have no qualms about stepping between the ropes with anyone at 140 pounds – even Tszyu, who returned to the ring after an injury-induced layoff to impressively stop Sharmba Mitchell in three rounds earlier this month.
"Whoever they want to put me against, I think I’m ready for it," said Cotto. "I’m not Sharmba Mitchell. I’ve seen Kostya Tszyu and I think he and the other guys at 140 pounds know what I’m about."
What Cotto has is a quiet calm within the ring, a methodical breaking down of opponents who can easily get lulled into complacency only to suddenly be on the receiving end of a debilitating hook to the body or head, or a combination that hits with such accuracy it startles the senses. Oh, he has his critics, who argue that he will have problems with a slick boxer or that he has enough defensive lapses to be a cause for concern, but these are the usual jabs that are thrown at young fighters just coming into their own. In fact, if you watch him fight closely, for want of a better comparison you could call him a 140-pound Joe Louis in both style and demeanor.
That’s the type of proclamation you never want to make about a fighter just entering the big time because those kind of comments will come back to haunt you if they don’t come true, but entering December, you feel a little easier about putting it on paper because Cotto truly arrived this year, stopping Victoriano Sosa in four rounds, winning a hard-fought decision over Lovemore Ndou, and decisively halting previously unbeaten Kelson Pinto in six rounds in front of a partisan crowd in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.
The win over Pinto not only solidified Cotto’s boxing credentials, but it also earned him a place in Puerto Rican boxing lore as the 50th world champion to come from the island. It’s an honor Cotto celebrated by placing the names of the previous 49 champions on his trunks for the fight.
"When it was mentioned to me that I would be number 50, that meant a lot to me, and I wondered how could I pay homage to these great champions from the island," said Cotto. "So I decided to do that (place the champions’ names on his trunks) and I’m very proud of being number 50."
The scary part is, he will probably only get better, and as the stakes get higher, so will the pandemonium around him. But he’s handling it just fine now - not surprising from a young man who was married at 16 and has three children with his wife Melissa. That kind of life will mature you quick, but he admits that he has always been a young man who doesn’t get overly excited about anything. It’s just his way.
"That’s my personality," he admits. "I don’t think you’re going to see much difference outside of the ring. I’ve always been quiet, I take it easy, and that’s the way I am. In the ring you really can’t lose your head and you have to stay focused – that’s what I try to do in my fights."
It’s worked so far; now the question is, how far can he take it?
NEW YORK, November 15 – With a quiet class, Miguel Cotto strolled through the Copacabana club in midtown Manhattan Monday, instantly justifying comparisons to his fellow Puerto Rican Felix Trinidad, as both pack a charisma that doesn’t require speaking English (though Cotto understands the language perfectly).
And for the two Boricuas, all that needs to be said takes place once the bell rings.
But while the unbeaten WBO junior welterweight champion is happy to receive such comparisons to Trinidad, he has no intentions of riding on his countryman’s coattails.
"It’s something that’s very nice when people talk about me that way, but I want to write my own story," said Cotto through Top Rank publicist Ricardo Jimenez. "I want to be known as myself. Everything that I’ve done so far and everything that I’m going to do in the future is just going to be Miguel Cotto."
So far, it’s been all thumbs up for the native of Caguas, who has drawn rave reviews in his four year career, and who has even won over some of the cynics who were slow to jump on the bandwagon, thanks to a stellar 2004 that has seen him score three wins over quality opposition, two via knockout.
On December 11, Cotto (21-0, 17 KOs) returns to Las Vegas for the seventh time in his young career when he defends his title against former champion Randall Bailey (28-4, 27 KOs) on the Vitali Klitschko-Danny Williams undercard at Mandalay Bay. For Cotto, performing on pay-per-view has become old hat (this is his seventh appearance), removing virtually all pressure from the 24-year-old, who likes performing on the world stage.
"You always want to do well in these big fights," said Cotto.
And they’ll only get bigger in the future. One of the best 140-pounders in the world behind Kostya Tszyu, Cotto has reached the point where the ‘learning’ fights are over. He’s faced the journeymen, dispatched of the former champions, took care of a fellow prospect, and after this ‘keep busy’ defense against the hard-hitting Bailey, he’s got the likes of Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Vivian Harris, Ricky Hatton, or Arturo Gatti to look forward to, making it very obvious that 2005 could be the year when a new Puerto Rican superstar takes the reigns. And in a rare occurrence these days, Cotto and his promotional and managerial teams have no qualms about stepping between the ropes with anyone at 140 pounds – even Tszyu, who returned to the ring after an injury-induced layoff to impressively stop Sharmba Mitchell in three rounds earlier this month.
"Whoever they want to put me against, I think I’m ready for it," said Cotto. "I’m not Sharmba Mitchell. I’ve seen Kostya Tszyu and I think he and the other guys at 140 pounds know what I’m about."
What Cotto has is a quiet calm within the ring, a methodical breaking down of opponents who can easily get lulled into complacency only to suddenly be on the receiving end of a debilitating hook to the body or head, or a combination that hits with such accuracy it startles the senses. Oh, he has his critics, who argue that he will have problems with a slick boxer or that he has enough defensive lapses to be a cause for concern, but these are the usual jabs that are thrown at young fighters just coming into their own. In fact, if you watch him fight closely, for want of a better comparison you could call him a 140-pound Joe Louis in both style and demeanor.
That’s the type of proclamation you never want to make about a fighter just entering the big time because those kind of comments will come back to haunt you if they don’t come true, but entering December, you feel a little easier about putting it on paper because Cotto truly arrived this year, stopping Victoriano Sosa in four rounds, winning a hard-fought decision over Lovemore Ndou, and decisively halting previously unbeaten Kelson Pinto in six rounds in front of a partisan crowd in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.
The win over Pinto not only solidified Cotto’s boxing credentials, but it also earned him a place in Puerto Rican boxing lore as the 50th world champion to come from the island. It’s an honor Cotto celebrated by placing the names of the previous 49 champions on his trunks for the fight.
"When it was mentioned to me that I would be number 50, that meant a lot to me, and I wondered how could I pay homage to these great champions from the island," said Cotto. "So I decided to do that (place the champions’ names on his trunks) and I’m very proud of being number 50."
The scary part is, he will probably only get better, and as the stakes get higher, so will the pandemonium around him. But he’s handling it just fine now - not surprising from a young man who was married at 16 and has three children with his wife Melissa. That kind of life will mature you quick, but he admits that he has always been a young man who doesn’t get overly excited about anything. It’s just his way.
"That’s my personality," he admits. "I don’t think you’re going to see much difference outside of the ring. I’ve always been quiet, I take it easy, and that’s the way I am. In the ring you really can’t lose your head and you have to stay focused – that’s what I try to do in my fights."
It’s worked so far; now the question is, how far can he take it?
Arum? That guy is a MONEY MAN . . . I don't think he is going to stake Cotto's future against KT this early. He is just starting to create a clamor for these two fighters to meet . . . 
so he can increase Cotto's market value.
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