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For years, Miguel Cotto was the consummate company man. He did his work, usually better than just about anyone else. He fought who he was told and where he was told. He trained fanatically, fought ferociously and quickly became one of the elite boxers in the world.
Unlike most elite boxers, though, Cotto had been content to let Top Rank, the promotional company that had guided his career since he turned professional following the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, call the shots.
It would be Top Rank that would decide the who, when and where. Cotto was around to take care of business in the ring after all the papers were signed and the details arranged.
“That’s up to my company to decide,” Cotto would inevitably say when asked who he would fight next.
My company.
He became a star of the highest magnitude while fighting for Top Rank, earning millions of dollars, multiple world championships and countless significant victories.
He defeated Shane Mosley when Mosley was still a prime fighter. He destroyed Zab Judah. He outfought everyone who climbed into a ring with him.
These days, as Cotto prepares to defend his World Boxing Association super welterweight title on Saturday in a sold-out Madison Square Garden against Antonio Margarito, he’s assumed much greater control of his career’s direction. His future with Top Rank is tenuous, the relationship clearly not what it once was.
Those who once wielded the power in his camp are, for the most part, no longer around. Saturday’s bout, he points out, is the last on his contract with Top Rank.
He parted ways with his long-time trainer, his uncle, Evangelista Cotto, in early 2009. His father, Miguel Sr., who had a significant impact upon his career, passed away in early 2010.
He has his own promotional company now, as well as other business ventures, and so feels content to take a more active role in his own boxing career.
“I know the game, the business, all sides, a lot better now than I did before,” Cotto said. “I can make decisions for myself. I know what’s best for Miguel Cotto, better than anyone else, you know?”
And he proved that on Nov. 21, during what became a farcical conference call that was designed to promote his fight with Margarito. At the time of the call, the venue for the fight, and even the status of the fight itself, was in doubt.
Cotto no longer has a relationship with his uncle, saying of him, “He’s my father’s brother. It’s no more than that.”
And Margarito, well, that’s another matter. He despises the lanky Mexican and vows to attack Margarito’s right eye, given the chance.
“If he knows there is something bad with his eyes and he decides to fight anyway, it’s fair game,” Cotto said. “He didn’t show me any [compassion] when he fought me with plaster in his gloves. I won’t show him any, either.”
He vows to win Saturday’s fight and then plot out his future after he returns to Puerto Rico. He’s always been stoic and solemn in his dealings with the media in the past, but now, he’s emotional and intense.
It’s a very different Cotto than the one who was, only a few short years ago, undefeated and one of the sport’s biggest stars and all too willing to let others make important decisions for him.
“I am a man,” he said, firmly.
But he’s a man with a great passion and a desire to rectify what he sees as a horrible wrong. And now, he’s determined not to cede control of his career to anyone but himself.
He’ll seek all the counsel he can get, but where he fights, how much he fights, when he fights and who he fights are all going to be decisions made by Cotto himself.
“This is my job and this is my career,” he said. “We’ll see what happens from here.”
Unlike most elite boxers, though, Cotto had been content to let Top Rank, the promotional company that had guided his career since he turned professional following the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, call the shots.
It would be Top Rank that would decide the who, when and where. Cotto was around to take care of business in the ring after all the papers were signed and the details arranged.
“That’s up to my company to decide,” Cotto would inevitably say when asked who he would fight next.
My company.
He became a star of the highest magnitude while fighting for Top Rank, earning millions of dollars, multiple world championships and countless significant victories.
He defeated Shane Mosley when Mosley was still a prime fighter. He destroyed Zab Judah. He outfought everyone who climbed into a ring with him.
These days, as Cotto prepares to defend his World Boxing Association super welterweight title on Saturday in a sold-out Madison Square Garden against Antonio Margarito, he’s assumed much greater control of his career’s direction. His future with Top Rank is tenuous, the relationship clearly not what it once was.
Those who once wielded the power in his camp are, for the most part, no longer around. Saturday’s bout, he points out, is the last on his contract with Top Rank.
He parted ways with his long-time trainer, his uncle, Evangelista Cotto, in early 2009. His father, Miguel Sr., who had a significant impact upon his career, passed away in early 2010.
He has his own promotional company now, as well as other business ventures, and so feels content to take a more active role in his own boxing career.
“I know the game, the business, all sides, a lot better now than I did before,” Cotto said. “I can make decisions for myself. I know what’s best for Miguel Cotto, better than anyone else, you know?”
And he proved that on Nov. 21, during what became a farcical conference call that was designed to promote his fight with Margarito. At the time of the call, the venue for the fight, and even the status of the fight itself, was in doubt.
Cotto no longer has a relationship with his uncle, saying of him, “He’s my father’s brother. It’s no more than that.”
And Margarito, well, that’s another matter. He despises the lanky Mexican and vows to attack Margarito’s right eye, given the chance.
“If he knows there is something bad with his eyes and he decides to fight anyway, it’s fair game,” Cotto said. “He didn’t show me any [compassion] when he fought me with plaster in his gloves. I won’t show him any, either.”
He vows to win Saturday’s fight and then plot out his future after he returns to Puerto Rico. He’s always been stoic and solemn in his dealings with the media in the past, but now, he’s emotional and intense.
It’s a very different Cotto than the one who was, only a few short years ago, undefeated and one of the sport’s biggest stars and all too willing to let others make important decisions for him.
“I am a man,” he said, firmly.
But he’s a man with a great passion and a desire to rectify what he sees as a horrible wrong. And now, he’s determined not to cede control of his career to anyone but himself.
He’ll seek all the counsel he can get, but where he fights, how much he fights, when he fights and who he fights are all going to be decisions made by Cotto himself.
“This is my job and this is my career,” he said. “We’ll see what happens from here.”
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