Cotto-Foreman: Is Miguel on his last legs?

By Jim Dower: Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KO’s) looks slower, smaller and not up to the task as he faces WBA junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman (28-0, 8 KO’s) this Saturday night at Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx, New York. At 5’7”, Cotto wasn’t even a normal sized welterweight, small for the weight class and looking more like a light welterweight. In moving up in weight to take on the 5’11” Foreman to try and capture his WBA title, Cotto looks incredibly short in comparison.

In looking at the two fighters standing face to face, it reminds me of IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko facing one of his typically much shorter opponents who he is about to mow down with his superior size. Cotto just looks way too small to be fighting a guy as big as Foreman. He’s not just bigger in height. Foreman looks all around to be the bigger fighter than Cotto.

This could go really bad for Cotto if he’s unable to take Foreman out early. Foreman, a fast fighter who likes to use his jab and box on the outside, isn’t the kind of fighter that Cotto has done well against in the past. Miguel doesn’t do well against fighters that can move and punch. Foreman isn’t much of a puncher, but his power is probably going to be a lot harder than Cotto might be expecting because of Foreman’s superior size.

Foreman is used to fighting bigger guys than Cotto and will be having a field day against a small, face first, Ricky Hatton-like fighter like Cotto. Foreman could end up being a nightmare for Cotto if he’s not really prepared for this fight. Cotto’s new trainer, Emanuel Steward, has been working on making changes with Cotto’s balance, his jab and his body punching.

But none of that may matter if Cotto can’t catch up to Foreman to land his shots. Foreman isn’t the kind of fighter that will just stand there in front of Cotto all night long to let him throw. He’s going to be sticking and moving and tying up Cotto to keep him from getting off his shots.

Cotto has been hit far too much in his last four fights and appears to be on the downhill slide in his career. Maybe Steward can resurrect Cotto’s career by making him more of a boxer, but then again maybe he won’t. If Steward doesn’t change Cotto’s bad habit of taking so many shots to the head, then I can see Cotto losing this fight by a stoppage on cuts or a fairly lopsided decision.

Cotto has looked too deteriorated in the past couple of years since his bouts with Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito, and I suspect that he may have lost something in from those vicious fights. Beyond fighting Manny Pacquiao one last time, it’s difficult to imagine what Cotto is fighting for. At this point, there are few stars in the sport for him to go after and his big paydays figure to be limited because of the lack of stars to be matched against him.

Cotto could get a good payday against Margarito in the future, but its doubtful Cotto will want to fight him again after being stopped by Margarito in the 11th round in 2008. Amir Khan and Floyd Mayweather Jr. remain options for Cotto in the future, but only if Cotto can beat Foreman this Saturday night. If Cotto can’t beat Foreman, then it might be best for Cotto to think of retirement.

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