Miguel Cotto: Don’t remember him for his defeats
November 16th, 2009
By Peter Wells: It’s horrible to think that the two biggest fights in former World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Miguel Cotto’s career were both defeats. Firstly it was the biggest fight of his career against the welterweight hard man Antonio Margarito, where he was took apart in the second half of the fight with super powerful punches (or plaster in his gloves).
This is no disrespect to Manny because I really like Pacquiao and hope he fights Mayweather next year, and proves who is the best, but I think when we talk about Miguel we should talk about his victories against Ricardo Torres, Paulie Malignaggi, Shane Mosley and Joshua Clottey. I want him to fight again to make one last point against a quality fighter, but I fear for his health and especially his vision, because cuts have become a big problem for Cotto and he was in a terrible shape after Pacquiao had finished with him. Being a big boxing fan, I worry about the fighters themselves and wouldn’t like to see Cotto taking a beating again just for our entertainment.
If he is to fight again, he shouldn’t fight a big puncher especially not a rematch with Margarito. It would be a huge thing if Manny retires 3 fighters in a row, although it looks like Ricky wants to return, which like with Miguel would be a risk, maybe not worth taking. Miguel has had plenty of success and should be remembered as a legend of the sport not a brave soldier of the sport. Or maybe both.
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My heart goes out to cotto one of the only pro boxers that I feel are good down to earth people I feel that cotto can make a cone back easy first thing I would think is yo get a new trainer I remeber hearing that Emmanuel Stewart wanted to train cotto and the be honest that’s not a bad idea and I’m not saying santiago is a bad trainer but the inexperice showed even with his old trainer his uncle before the fight the said that the cotto camp admits that no one went to see Margaritos gloves before the fight that’s shocking to me you really can’t trust the xomminsion cuz they signed off on margaritos gloves before the Shane fight anyways good luck to cotto he’s still my favorite fight and manny you’ve finnaly earned my respect
personally, i’m just glad that both fighters fought so well that BOTH fans have developed respect. cotto fans have respect for pacman for defeating a great fighter. pacman fans have respect for cotto because of his heart and courage.
why people still insist on taking credit away from pacman or even cotto is beyond me.
EVRY ONE SHUT THE F*** UP,
COTTO WAS 145, THAT 2POUNDS, what has the world come to, pacman had to put on atleast 7pounds, and still hooped him.
COTTO HAS 2 LOSSES
FATTON HAS 2 LOSSES
(mills lane legend) > LETS GET IT ON……!!!!
fatton needs to fight timothy bradley or JMM
cotto’s trainer is an amature, i believe cotto could of a lot beter with his old coach, regardless PACMAN still would have beaten him.
paul willaims is a freak nature, the dude is a middle weight.
i think shane mosley shoul just KO berto get it over and done with, thne fight paul williams for a chance at the winner of pacman & mayweather.
STOP ALL EXCUSES PACMAN SKOOLED AND DESTROYED COTTO, THE WARRIOR WITH THE BEST HEART,
I do not think Freddie Roach will let Pacquiao fight Paul “the Punisher” Williams. I will be impressed if Manny Pacquiao can beat Paul Williams. Paul Williams is the most avoided fighter in the welterweight division…so much so that he has had to move up to 160lbs to find some one who will fight him. Kelly Pavlike I have heard has backed out of fighting Paul Williams twice.
Lets give Paul WIlliams a chance to show his awesome skills against Manny Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao will be crying to his momma once Paul Williams is finished destroying Manny Pacquiao. People who know boxing know that Paul Williams is an unbelievable fighting machine, and will dismantle/destroy any one who is put in front of him.
Do not claim Manny Pacquiao is the greatest until he fights Paul “the Punisher” Williams. Unfortunately Paul Williams is not getting the publicity he deserves for his awesome skills.
It is ashame that Freddie Roach cleverly asked Miguel Cotto to fight at a catch weight to give Manny Pacquiao an even bigger advantage in power over Miguel Cotto.
I say from now on Manny Pacquiao fights at 147lbs no more advantages for Manny Pacquiao. Enough is enough…the two pounds are huge in that weight category. If Manny Pacquiao is so great let him stop asking for catch weights…he has shown that he has power..stop asking welterweights to lose their power and give all the advantage to Manny Pacquiao.
If you know about boxing it makes sense what I am saying. There are fighters out in welterweight division who are going to teach Manny Pacquiao a lesson. Enough with the nonsense of the unfair, power draining catch weights.
I would like to find out if there was a clause that Cotto had to come in at 145lbs on fight night.
I was told that Miguel’s weight on fight night was 145lbs by my boy who was at the fight. I then read yesterday that there was a claus in the contract that Miguel had to weigh in at 145lbs on fight night. I could not believe this. Could this be true. If this is the case it would seem to me that Bob Arum basically set up Cotto for failure. Bob Arum really wanted Pac to win to set up a huge fight with Money Mayweather. Knowing that he would be alot weaker which would give Pacquaio a huge advantage. Can they make a fighter weigh a certain amount on fight night? I am a huge Cotto fan and he did not look the same to me. He seemed weak and tired by the 4th round. This from a guy who went 12 rounds and took huge shots from Mosley. I know Pac is strong but he doesnt hit harder than Mosley. I think Cotto should get out of Top Rank and hire a new trainer.
Cotto is better than Mayweather period.
Good article.
I just wanted to say that this how hatton should be remembered too. His victories and the achievements he did. There is no shame loosing to Mayweather and Pacman. The best 2 fighters this world has seen for years
Major props to Miguel Cotto! Being a Pacquiao fan, I was very apprehensive when this fight first materialized and with good reason. Cotto is arguably one of the toughest pure WW in the game and I honestly saw Manny having a hard time wearing him down. In the post-fight, Pacquiao admitted to having to feign nonchalance as Cotto’s hard shots began to take their toll. Unfortunately for Cotto, Manny’s stamina proved greater and eventually the outcome became pretty obvious. All this though is besides the point. Miguel Cotto never had to fight Pacquiao to prove himself as a fine champion. A fighter with enormous heart and pride. Defeated only ONCE before by a lowlife cheat of a boxer. A man with incredible skill, grace and power that just found himself facing someone blessed with all the right things to beat him. Cheers to Miguel Cotto and here’s wishing him the best in the coming year!
yes cotto is a very good man he is a great sportsmanship hope someday he will redeem it all he is a good boxer the more if he hire freddie roach as his trainer he is still young good luck miguel im a filipino
By Liam Santiago, Before the Fight:
I am sticking by the statement I made a couple of weeks back. If Miguel Cotto loses to Manny Pacquiao on November 14th, I will never write another boxing article. If Pacquiao can, somehow, pull off the win, it will be a very emotional day. Tears will flow. However, anyone with a decent knowledge of boxing will understand, the odds are stacked against Pac-Man.
Lets remember, Cotto will not be coming into this fight dehydrated, ”dead at the weight”, like De La Hoya was. He will not have a useless trainer in his corner, who will destroy his mental focus and preparation, like Hatton did. And, by what I hear, he will not peak three weeks prior to the fight, like Hatton did. Cotto has a much better defence than Hatton, he has a great jab and under rated speed. The Puerto Rican phenomenon also…
By Liam Santiago, Nov 15, 2009:
I said before the fight that if Cotto loses I would quit my job. Wrong again. If only Pacquiao did not beat such a weight dead, shot fighter, I would walk away. But, the way I see it is he did not beat Cotto, he beat a ghost of Cotto. Not only did Pacquiao drag Cotto down from his usual welterweight limit, he also forced him to put his title on the line. What is boxing coming to.
What is this i hear of talk beginning between Marquez and Hatton?
Good article. i respect Cotto he is a good boxer and a good fighter not only that a very good sportman.you know in boxing if you are going to fight the best boxer you have always a chance to lose and thats what happen to cotto.I’m not saying Cotto is not the best fighter , he is one of the best But always the best fighter win. I want Cotto to fight Mayweather.
why blame the corner of cotto? It is only now that pacquiao been hit more since the marquez and morales fights. Cotto was landing but pacquiao absorb it all, thanks to ariza and roach!You just can’t change a person’s reflexes instantly since it is inherent to the nervous system. We have to admit that pacquiao is simply quicker. CAn’t u see it in a starving and hungry dog? it is very quick to get any food once it sees one.
I cant believe the blogs owner barred me for writing the above comment. I just wrote war and peace, subbmitted comment, and told i was barred. I am devastated. really. i was writing for ages.
First post, just a test. sorry for wasting your time if your reading this.
i hav to say i seen a few of cottos fights and i will remember him mostly for this 1. but that not a bad thing.who would not want to be remembered as a true warrior? he gave it his all and played his part in one of the best fights iv seen in ages!
Cotto is a warrior, look at his two defeats both fighters are reknown for their knockout victories and it was in rounds 11 and 12 respectivley that Cotto was stopped meaning they would have to have worked, pressured and landed mny blows to wear him down. As for the Clottey fight, the guys who critsize tha victory dont know boxing look at the majority of great champs, somewhere on their record will be a tough twelve rounder with a tough african fighter i.e Calzaghe v Sakio Bika, Kosta Tszyu vs Ben Tackie.
forget hatton, he’ll probably be challenging Haye for his WBA heavyweight title by the looks of things
I agree with the title of this article, Miguel Cotto sould be remembered as a “whole” fighter with his great wins and losses (wich by the way are notting to be ashame) He might not be the “best” but he sure is a brave warrior!!!,……Not like some “fighters”??? out there who “claim” to be the “best” but in the ring run’s faster than Usain Bolt!!!.
HELLO THERE MR. MAYWEATHER JR. “HAVE A NICE DAY”
bring on cotto hatton!who thinks yeah?
@Team J&J
Even before DLH fight, Pacquaio is ranked the pound-for-pound king so he doesn’t really need to fight DLH or whatsoever above 140 because he dominated his weight category before.
It takes 2 to tango. Why did DLH and Cotto agreed to the catchweight? Because they recognize Pacquaio’s status and taught that they can beat him in a cathcweight. They agreed to sign the dotted line knowing ahead that they still crack the smaller Pacquaio and not what with your excuses.
If an unknown fighter would ask DLH & Cotto to go down the weight? Would they consider it? I bet not.
Now, if Pacman could have fought them at 147, would Pacquaio’s lost diminish his achievements and DLH/Cotto’s win would get them further? I bet not, because they would force a smaller Pacquaio to fight in the category they are expected to win.
The truth is, they agreed to fight in the catchweight to prove something. For DLH, even at his age, he can still beat a prime fighter, and for Cotto, he can still go down the weight and dispose a competent fighter in Pacquaio. Unfortunately, Pacquaio proved them otherwise.
The commendable thing for these 2 great fighters was that they deliver come weigh-in unlike Mayweather who deliberately cheated Marquez.
If you can’t meet the agreed catchweight that says something about a boxer’s discipline in training.
Cotto is still my favourite boxer because of his style and his technique the guy is a true warrior,just a shame he ain’t as relentless as he looks haha o.j.
Still up there with the best but like they say there’s always a bigger fish.
P.S. I mean redemption
Thanx for your article, I really respect your point of view! But in my opinion I think we should remember Miguel Cotto for his wins and loses. Imagine if Miguel Comes back better than ever.. Imagine if he does rematch margarito and beat him, imagine if he has a few more fights under his belt with wins over Hatton, Mosley 2, and berto… Just imagine what a good trainer can do to grow Miguel Cotto… N imagine if 4 yrs from now where lookin back talkin about Miguel and how he managed to come back and be remembered as one of the greatest fighters ever! I am sorry, but I see too much potential in him to not say it can’t happen!
For you and i it dont matter but for a profesional boxer 2 pounds is a ton. You know what cotto did to make 145? He train for an extra month, thats 4 week waking up every morning at 5 or 6 in the morning to run and work hard. If they fight was at 147 you took away that extra month of training from cotto, and give pac a lot of food to make the weight and come fight nite cotto will murder him even if pac is better. you get it?
The best remedy for Cotto to get back from where he used to be is to fight those who defeated him and win over them. That’s how Pacquaio bounced back from his lost to Morales and controversial draw against Marquez. It didn’t bothered him after that.
He should get a rematch with Margarito. Unfortunately, he might not get that with Pacquaio because he would be retiring soon after Mayweather, if that is about to happen soon.
Pacquiao does not go 147 and fight cause he is scared of any fighter, He is not scared of anyone, i agree. The reason he does not go 147 is because in that case he is the one that will look suck, no speed, no power, just will get beat bad. So the reality is he is making other boxer left all their got in the gym and come fight nite they got nothing. This is a 100% FACT. Let pac eat a lot and make 147 to see if he can beat even cotto or mosley or mayweather, Come on let see the true.
A lot of experts say it before the fight, Cotto start his camp so early to make the weight that he was gonna be just a skinny guy, Not a strong skinny guy with power And guess what? They was right. period. Same thing happend to DLH. Pac was hurt by morales and defeated by him, also marquez shake him a few times. And cotto a natural bigger guy who have fought and knockdown bigger guys cant not hurt him at all? Come on, Obviously Cotto was done before the fight and all have to do with the weight.
Cotto’s face looks the same after the pac-man fight as it did after the margaritto fight, i dont think the raps thing is an issue. Surely they would have done more damage to margarittos hands????? Thoughts anyone, or am i just talking BOLLOCKS?
Cotto vs Hatton – double farewell.
Cotto will bounce back for sure. He’s still young. He shouldn’t be disheartened from his losses. He lost to great fighters.
He should take Manny’s credentials into consideration. Manny has losses too but fought his way up to the ranks.
My only concern for Cotto was he’s reason when interviewed after the fight. He would always mention that he’s worried about his health.
When you go into the ring and have those kind of worries, you’ll end up losing confidence and fear slowly eats you. I guess that’s the factor why pacquaio is dominating the ring. He’s hurt but he doesn’t show it in the ring.
Yes, we all know the health hazard in boxing. But the best way to lay that concern aside once in the ring is to have a good defense or put a good offense to keep your enemy on defense.
We saw a little of that in Cotto during the fight and we only saw the fear in his eyes when he was knocked down the second time around.
Still, I have to give credit to Cotto’s bravery and sportsmanship. A+ on that one.
Cotto = Amazing fighter, great guy, very humble, conducts hinself very well and a credit to the sport of boxing. Good luck for the future Miguel!!
cotto is a great fighter margirito should never be allowed to box again because who knows how good cotto would heve been if he had not damaged his confidence when fighting margirito?. so up untill sat no one had beat cotto fairly .cotto was boxing better then ever on sat but manny is just on another planet.
Boxing at its finest. We’ve all witnessed boxing history!.. Manny Pacquiao truly belongs to the elite circle of being one of the Greatest Boxers of All Time…
sorry guys i am now fired.. damn u manny hope pbf whoop ur asian a**…
agreed…his demeanor pre- and post-fight are really commendable…being a Filipino and a casual boxing fan I was ecstatic with Pac-man’s win as much as I was disheartened by the way Cotto was bruised by fight’s end…but thats boxing and he certainly showed us his character by the way he handled defeat…a worthy opponent to Pacman indeed and a true sportsman.
Big Pacman fan but I have great respect for Cotto before the fight and more so after the fight.
Going to Pacquaio’s corner and congratulate Pacman after the fight while the latter is doing his post-fight thanksgiving prayer shows how a true sportman he is. We need to see more of this kind of attitude and not thugs.
I won’t be surprise if Cotto would end up being friends with Pacquaio, just like Diaz and Morales and may end up being invited in the Philippines too by a hospitable host in Pacquaio.
Yep, got more respect for Cotto after that fight. Remained true to himself and continued to try and box smoothly even when the loss seemed inevitable.
Looked determined to go out on his shield, and, even in defeat gave a good account of himself.
Lets not forget he gave a good account of his technique by attempting to change his approach several times in the fight, constantly adapting. Manny really was just too good, what a phenomenal fighter.
Yes cotto deserves to be remembered with his achievements.. But there are two writers in this site named Liam Santiago and Manuel Perez that also be praise for being a Pacman hater and now true to their word to retire from writing if pacquiao win on nov 14.. good luck to both of you.. hope NOT to see name in this website..
Cool, I was the first one to comment!!! I just want to say “In your face, Manuel Perez and Liam Santiago” Pacqiuao once again made you two look bad!!!
Great sportmanship on Cotto!!! He deserves respect, unlike Marquez!!!