Where does Miguel Cotto go from here?
November 15th, 2009
By Jorge Lugo: Last night I had the privilege of watching Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao. In what I knew was going to be a classic, I simply found myself going crazy with the anticipation simply because I honestly could not tell who would win. The three boxing fights before the main fight wouldn’t help my wait as they were awfully boring and long. But when the time came for the actual fight I was all focused.
After watching and studying countless Pacquiao and Cotto fights (Yes I study fighters!), I became all to familiar with the usual focus and confidence with Miguel Cotto in his fights, coming to the ring you could always see he was fully sure of himself! He always carried himself with very high demeanor and confidence. Surprisingly though, I did NOT see that confidence on his face as he walked in to the ring last night. To give you an honest opinion, Cotto looked unsure and more concerned on what his opponent might be offering him…
Fast forward 12 rounds and a brutal stoppage and Manny Pacquiao has officially made history and is the first fighter ever to win 7 different titles in 7 different weight classes. Taking nothing away from Manny Pacquiao, he has officially secured his spot in boxing history forever by literally demanding it from a naturally bigger fighter in his PRIME! But my question here is.. After all the shock and surprise goes away and everything settles in. What happens to Cotto now?
Regardless of how the fighters prepared or how smooth training camp went, one of the most sad and suprising things to me was that Miguel Cotto was in that fight alone against a Manny Pacquiao and Freddy Roach! In Cotto’s corner, instead of giving him techniques and game plans, from very early on they seemed morose there to try and encourage Cotto and inspire him to keep going?!? Almost like a support group. I was in utter disbelief when I heard Joe Santiago tell Cotto in round 4 to jab more and keep moving, when it was evident that Cotto was in sincere trouble! What happened to there game plan? What happened to there technique? What happened to Cotto’s corner?
Miguel Cotto in my eyes, is not the same fighter since the Margarito fight. To be honest I think he is BETTER! He showed last night that he has the heart and skill to hang in there with the best and even though it was stopped I know Cotto would have made it to the end. What I think his downfall was is poor game plan strategy by a really green corner. I can and have no problem telling anyone that Cotto had all the tools needed to beat Manny Pacquiao… It just wasn’t utilized.
Miguel Cotto said at the end of the fight that he would fight again and to be honest I think he should. But if he does he needs to get rid of his current team and recruit a focused, technical and experienced trainer as well as camp as it is never good for any fighter to be the one to dictate his own team.
We probably will never see a nothing boxing great like Manny Pacquiao in our lifetime. He fought brilliantly and used his game plan of the right cross over Cotto’s left beautifully. Regardless of a pending clash with Floyd Mayweather he is already in the history books. His legacy will live forever especially with such an impressive win! But what about Miguel Cotto? He has spent the last years fighting nothing but the best and winning against them! I truly feel he is a great fighter with a not so great team! Its just so unfortunate he had to find out this way. Where does he go from here?
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Oh Stop it already. Pacquiao is much better than the other guy! that’s it.
JOE SANTIAGO SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT MANNY’S LEFT CROSS/UPPERCUT IS A KILLER. THEY SHOULD HAVE AVOIDED COMING INSIDE BECAUSE HE IS AN EASY TARGET. HE LEANED OVER TOO FAR AND COMMITTED THE BIGGEST MISTAKE IN THE 4TH ROUND WHEN HE GOT CAUGHT. JOE SANTIAGO IS NOT CUT OUT TO BE A TRAINER.
I’m a fan of Pacquiao. After the fight, I also became a fan of Cotto. He fought very well.
Great article!
Bigman wrote that There was a clause that stated Cotto had to weigh in at 145lbs. on fight night. Is this true and if so how would you know. I am a huge Cotto fan and agree that he did not look like his normal self. Manny was great on the other hand. But if there was a clause in the contract for that then the fight was BS. He should definately get rid of that weak trainer.
Does anyone think Pac can beat Paul Williams? Shane Mosley? I think he should fight them to be the best, but would lose both.
HEY BIGMAN #43.. YOU MADE AN EXCUSE.. WEIGHT DRAIN?? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, LOSER? ARE YOU THINKING BEFORE YOU TALKING?? NO MORE REMATCH AT 147 BETWEEN COTTO AND PACQUIAO.. IT DOES NOT SELL. BOXING IS BUSINESS.. EVERYBODY WANTS PACQUIAO VS MAYWEATHER.. SO WAKE UP MATE.. NO MORE EXCUSES PLEASE… LOSER!!!
I don’t think it would have mattered who the trainer was. How can you defend punches that you don’t see coming? Oscar, Hatton and Cotto all underestimated Manny’s skills and look what happened to them. Floyd is in for the fight of his life if he chooses to fight Manny. He may be able to avoid one or two punches coming at him but not 3 to 4 rapid fire combinations coming from different angles combined with the Pacman’s speedy footwork.
BAYLISS IS A DODGY REFEREE HE NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT, IF U WATCH THE HATTON FIGHT V MANNY THE FIRST KNOCKDOWN HE GAVE HATTON MORE TIME TO RECOVER THEN HE SHOULD OF. AND NOW THE MISTAKES IN THIS FIGHT.
THE REFEREE WAS A DISGRACE COTTO SHOULD OF BEEN STOPPED IN THE NINTH, REFEREE LET HIM TAKE MORE PUNISHMENT FOR 3 MORE ROUNDS UNNECESSARILY THEN THE STUPID MAN DONE HIM THE INJUSTICE OF NOT GOING THE DISTANCE WAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT
Manny I salute you, your a legend! But I have no doubt in my mind Mayweather will outbox you
Miguel Cotto should get revenge against Margarito. He should hire FELIX TRINIDAD SR. to train him and ditch this novice Joe Santiago.
No doubt Manny is probably the best fighter ever, even over my choice for many years Roberto Duran!!! Cotto did his best and has nothing to be ashame of. If he really is motivated to continue fighting and focus on been allways 100% prepared, he should keep on fighting cause he can still win a lot of good fights.
Cotto is a true warrior and a gracious humble loser…he made no excuses because der were none he was beaten by a better fighter…his heart is proven my hats off to him…da issue w/ his weight is nullified bcoz he fought commendably against Clottey at 146 so 145 is just a sore alibi for da loss especially we all know dat he had 24 hrs to come in at least 10 more pounds dan PacMan during da fight, nobody talks about how Manny who is a blown up jr. lightweight has to stay up over 140 during his recent fights…he is known to weigh only about 134 outside his fights, pls let’s stop da alibis and give credit to both Manny and Cotto, we need more boxers like dem…
i think cotto is still a great boxer, if freddie roach going to train him he will be on the top of his shape again with confidence…theres a lot more oppurtunities for him. it was just not his night when he fought pacquiao. im a pacman fan but i like cotto too. he is a good sportman who admitted he lost fair and square,not just like the others with too much allubies.
Cotto fought the worst fight of his carrer on Saturday, he looked slow, with no power and he let Pac get to him. Cotto was drained at 145, and the way it looked he came in weighing 145 on sat night, which is not the way Cotto is suppose to fight. He usually makes weight 147 then goes up to 154-158 on fight night. This is a poor performance by Cotto, I hope he can get a better trainer, and he needs to get out of that contract with Arum who is the reason Cotto lost, there was a clause in the contract that Cotto had to come in at 145 on fight night, which takes away from the boxers advantage and puts him at a disadvantage. Cotto needs to hurry up get his stuff, team, and Promoter in order, and get a re-match with Pac at 147, with no restriction, and the belt on the line, and lets see what happens then.
COTTO IS A GREAT BOXER BUT HE LOST TO AN EVEN GREATEST FIGHTER. COTTO DOESNT DESERVE THAT KIND OF PUNISHMENT, THE FIGHT SHOULD HAVE BEEN STOPPED AT THE END OF NINTH ROUND!! HIS CORNERS ARE FOOLS FOR LETTING HIM GO ON IN A LOST BATTLE!! BUT WHAT A PRIDE AND A GOOD SPORTSMAN TOO!! IM A FILIPINO BUT ALL MY RESPECT TO COTTO. ANYWAY WHERE IS LIAM SANTIAGO AND MANUEL PEREZ, LOST FOR WORDS????
Yo Yo Yo y’all, Sausages comin at ya live fron the big city, y’all recognise!! Sausages will share his take on this. First of Sausages really likes Cotto, great fighter, nice guy, conducts himself well… Where next? Like to see him in rematch with Margarito or else a fight with Hatton. Sausages gotta go here and take care of business. Peace!
yes, if freddie roach can help cotto, he will be great like manny pacman in the end.
I agree with Stephen A!
Rematch with Margarito, and hopefully, Cotto Rightfully Buries Him!
pacman did not follow the game plan in the early rounds and roach kept asking him (pacman)”why are you fighting his fight”. Pacman just wanted to test if cotto can hurt him. I guess this answers the prefight questions regarding his chin.
Miguel Cotto normally comes in around 145 anyway. For those who say he was underweight, obviously are not true Cotto fans anyway. 2 lbs. was very insignificant considering his last fight before Manny, he weighed 146 against Clottey. That was a great fight too.
I called before hand and not by round KO or anything like that. I simply asked a question to majority of the folks out there! Who would you have in your corner, hall of famer Freddie Roach or the inexperienced Joe Santiago. Its always brains over brawn. Everyone was speaking about Speed vs. Power and I said how about trainer vs. trainer? Cotto is still a Great Fighter in my eyes, he just happened to run into a Legend…
i think the weight of cotto was not the issue… i still clearly remember how joe santiago lambasted freddie roach during the weigh-in and made that “i told you so” with regards to cotto making the 145 lb weight limit… it was clear that cotto had no problem making the weight.. he was just clearly beaten by a much greater and quicker fighter than himself… pacquiao dominated the fight clearly.. nuff said and please, no more excuses…
A Cotto vs Margarito II would be good. It’d be great to see Cotto beat Margarito.
It was great to see 2 warriors battle in the ring. Even though Cotto lost the fight, I think he earned the respect of all boxing fans! Even though I was cheering for Manny, I truly felt Cotto’s corner should’ve stopped the fight. Cotto took way too much unnecessary punishment from the Pacman. Cotto showed heart and determination and hopefully comes back to fight in a championship match again. I can’t wait until Pacquiao vs. Mayweather! Go Manny!
cotto should not lost the weight to come down at 145 i knew after the 4 rounds that cotto had no chance cause he look weak im the best boxing expert and training in the world if iwas training cotto he would of never then the catch weight at 145 nick thomas world best boxing expert and trainer
Great article! Keep it up.
I khow why you say that cotto didnt look confident when he step into the ring because he loss. hello had he won you would sing a diffrent story. so keep real
hmmm. wers the crazy manuel perez and liam santiago?
how many bucks they bet. hahaha
Good article.
Cotto is a superstar in and out of the ring. Never makes any excuses if he either loses or doesnt put on a great performance. He shows a lot of respect before and after the fight. If his corner had him boxing like he did in the first round, the fight would have been a lot closer in my opinion. But then the two knockdowns came, the second really putting him on unsteady legs. What did the corner do? Threw water on his head. Yes obviously this is to clear his head, but I didnt hear any advise. A very rookie corner.
Pacquiao did great last night, executed his gameplan down to a tee.
As for Bob Arum, what a tool. No offense to any modern day greats including Pacquiao etc. But I dont believe any can compare to the Robinson’s and Ali’s of boxing history. These boxers influenced and changed the world with what they did in and out of the ring. There records were outstanding, they boxed a lot more frequently than 2 or 3 times a year.
Hopefully Mayweather and Pacquiao can get it on now. But, I truely believe Pacquiao is perfect for Mayweather in terms of style. I think Pacman will find it very hard to connect with Mayweather, if he rushes in trying to throw the combinations he did against Cotto. Mayweather will just get in ‘the pocket’ and potshot him all night.
Well one thing for sure is it was a great fight and Cotto has earned respect from Filipinos and
Pac fans
You know, Cotto could go home with his head held high. He was honest to admit that he fought one of the greatest boxers of all time, and that statement alone shows his real guts. I hate it when fighters give excuses. Cotto is cerrtainly one of the best who gave afficionados like me a thrill for their moneys. He showed that he is still in contention by hanging in there. Cotto said, “I’m not out to prove anything. I’m just here to fight and I value my entourage and circle of friends for who they are because they stick with me in good times and in bad. (in that essence). I’m Filipino but after the fight my heart went with Cotto for his professionalism and individualism. AND HIS TOUGHNESS!
Absolutely. It’s the speed aligned with an unorthodox style and fast pace that is making Pacman so affective.
I too am a huge Cotto fan, I live in London but have managed to watch almost every fight he has had since his 12th fight. I thought of him as a Puerto Rican Marvin Hagler, similar style and power..
I totally agree his corner seemed to leave it up to him. In a fight you need the voice of reason, you need a team that can see what you are doing and how to change it if need be..
You know only to well that Roach, Steward or Dundee would have been literally slapping their guy into shape if he broke away from the game plan..
The problem with Cotto is he is too brave. Sometimes when you get hurt you have to regroup and adapt but Cotto wants to fight fire with fire. He had a great first round, winning it in my book, he was sharp and countered Manny..
The difference was Manny and Rouch changed their tactics, making Cotto strike first and slug it out and that’s when your chin is left sticking out and someone as good as Manny will get to it with power and speed..
Cotto must fight on, he lost to a potentially cheating Margarito and a superb Manny.. The rest he has beaten including Mosley who I like very much..
A rematch with Margarito would be sensational and I’d hope and in many ways think Cotto would win..
Maywether will beat Manny though.. He doesn’t get hit, he doesn’t lose the game plan, he is too smart, too elusive and has speed also. Maywether has never been troubled, never. Manny has and has been outboxed.
I actually prefer Manny to Maywether but can’t see him winning..
M
I like Cotto as a fighter. And about his corner, i remember a great trainer wanted to train him for this fight but Cotto not noticed. To bad for him. And what he needed for this fight was a good right(straight) hand like the one of Juan Manuel Marquez that did a lot of damage to Paquiao in their fights.
cotto should still hold his head up and get back in the ring, and not let the loss to pac affect him in any way. nobody and i mean nobody is going to beat pac.
cotto could not compete with the speed of Paquiao, the power of Cotto was match by opponent. i think mayweather is a worthy opponent. it will be a great fight in all boxing history
Hey the bottom line is, SPEED KILLS.
you know how green cotto’s corner was considering how they handled him and how they got fired up with Roach’s comments.
Roach is one sly person really. he realized miguel is too composed to care about what he says so he went after his rookie trainer instead….and it worked well since not only was santiago unable to help miguel prepare but he also was unable to give him any tips during the fight. this was Cotto fighting alone against TEAM pacquiao in many ways.
still, one can’t take anything from Pacman. following the gameplan is the fighters responsibility and its as much a part of boxing as throwing your punches.
Both fighters were great. I couldn’t even tell who would win. You saw Manny getting hit heavily at some point but he persevered with it. Both knew their own styles which made the fight more interesting. Manny usually is aggressive but and Cotto knows he’s the bigger guy but when both are close, they were all defense not bunging a bit for a few seconds. This is a fight that both knew who they’re dealing with and it all came down to who had the best strategy. Both are winners for me.
Thank you for stating so eloquently & honestly what so many boxing fans are feeling…& quite frankly were screaming at the TV last night. Watching the HBO special 24/7 I was concerned about the effectiveness & discipline of Cotto’s team…Just as a surgeon (no matter how skilled) would never perform surgery on himself, a fighter cannot be the one calling the shots…he has to have someone he can depend on…completely – even to stop the fight against the wishes of the fighter. And we all know Joe S. would Never have stopped that fight -that is professional suicide and dangerous. Of course Cotto has heart, he is a strong, proud Puerto Rican boxer – he absolutely MUST clear his corner & rebuild a strong team, worthy of being “Team Cotto.” Yes, he should (and I certainly hope he does) fight again – but NOT with the current roster – I think they were ill prepared, they didn’t study the opponent & what little they did learn about Manny from the study of video was never effectively translated into training that Cotto to utilize once he stepped into that ring. He didn’t need a group of cheerleaders in his corner!
Hats off to Manny for his victory, he was prepared, his team was on point & he was a gracious winner.
COTTO NEEDS ROACH!
then another title shot
and were does cotto go from here? a rematch agianst margarito, i feel that he could beat him this time for sure
great article. freedie roach should be givin more credit though as it was partly due to him that manny made cotto look very average last nite
As freddie said well before the fight that cotto was training himself and thats the big difference in the fight he was sorely missing the services of his estranged uncle evangelista,
Manny has lots of game plans,he studied the
strength and weaknesses of his opponents.
There are times,that the boxing commentator
was biased against Manny,but at the end of the
fight he still stands victoriously.
Hail to Manny and the Philippines!
true talo. but Manny dominated him from beginning to end. i’m a huge Cotto fan, and i saw the fight going the opposite way that it actually happened. but i take my hat off to manny. and i truly hope Cotto gets a more experienced corner. I still feel with the proper training that Cotto can still come out on top once again.
Talo,
I hear what your saying about the weight issue… But u have to remember that Miguel fought Joshua Clottey at 146. So it really wasn’t that big of a deal to come in at 145. The truth is Pacquiao was just that great and it was his night!
I think manny is great, and don´t want to take nothing away from him, but I steal complain about the 145 lbs. agreement. Cotto wasn´t at his best due to those 2 pounds, but still manny is a great fighter. Just that at 147 the fight would be closer, i think.
Cotto always commanded respect and love from his fans and boxing fans alike. he’s gracious, humble and never takes anything from other fighters nor does he make excuses (heck, it took him 12 months to confess that he feels Antonio cheated him).
yet, sometimes respect and love from fans alone aren’t enough. miguel needs to focus now. he’s at a rought patch in his career where people are beginning to write him off as a has-been. if he stays like this, he’ll always be that guy who never really made it.
he needs to work on his stamina for one. i’ve always worried about him once a fighter takes him beyond round5.
I would like to see arematch with Margarito. This time with no loaded gloves…!
great article!!! I’m glad to see that some writerss on this site write accurate pieces
I agree with your article, Cotto is a great fighter! he trained for this fight but i think he’s team failed to formulate the right gameplan for this fight.. they miscalculate manny’s abilities and clearly miguel doesnt know what to do in the latter part of the fight. Manny pacquiao is one hell of a fighter.. he exposed miguel cotto, he cannot go toe to toe with manny, pac knows it and the rest is history.
Correction.. In the first sentence of the last paragraph it is supposed to say… We will probably never see “another” boxing great like Manny Pacquiao in our life time…. Please understand that Manny Pacquiao won that fight fair and dominately and I take nothing away from him… That writing was just an error.. Thanks!