By Dan Ambrose: Miguel Cotto (37-4, 30 KO’s) is now being trained by Freddie Roach and he’s looking at fighting three more times before wrapping up his boxing career. Cotto will start training soon with Roach at the Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles, California for Cotto’s next fight against Delvin Rodriguez (28-6-3, 16 KO’s) in Florida.
Cotto, 32, is counting on Roach being able to improve his game. However, it’s not clear how much more Roach can get out of Cotto that hasn’t already been brought out by trainers Emanuel Steward and Pedro Diaz.
Cotto seems to be about as good as he’s going to get, and teaming up with Roach, a trainer known for his expertise in training offensive fighters, made not be enough to help Cotto from getting beaten when steps up against quality opposition.
Cotto said to Dan Rafael of ESPN, “We didn’t get the victory in the last couple of fights, but we made great fights and I know we’re going to improve a lot with Freddie Roach. No matter where I’m going to train, I will train hard for him and bring my best every day.”
Perhaps remembering how Cotto gassed out in his fights against Joshua Clottey, Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr., Roach wants Cotto to get in shape before he starts training camp with him because he doesn’t want to have to slow things down while Cotto is working himself into shape.
I don’t know if Cotto can really do much as far as getting in better shape. He reminds me a lot of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in that he looks like a little tank when he fights, and he mostly does well in the early to mid-rounds. By the last four or five rounds of his fights, Cotto gasses out a lot like Canelo. At 32, I don’t see him changing much.
Roach is a good trainer, but Cotto has a lot of mileage on him that goes beyond how good of a trainer he has. Roach can give Cotto the best training in the world, but I still think he’s going to struggle if he’s put in with someone like Austin Trout or Mayweather Jr. again.
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