By: Timothy Medina Tonight in the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, Delvin Rodriguez (28-6-3) faces Miguel Cotto (37-4-0). While this is simply a tune-up fight for Miguel Cotto, this is going to be the biggest fight in the career of Rodriguez.
Even though this fight is bigger for Rodriguez than it is for Cotto, this fight will determine how the legacy of Cotto will end.
Cotto is one of the biggest fighters of the past decade and a future Hall of Famer. He has been in many wars and has been victorious against men such as Paulie Malignaggi, Carlos Quintana, Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, Joshua Clottey, and Antonio Margarito. It is hard to imagine Cotto losing to the likes of Rodriguez, but with the damage Cotto has taken over the years, it is possible for Rodriguez to pull off a miracle tonight.
Rodriguez is the taller man with the longer reach in this bout. We all saw what happened on December 1st, 2012 when Cotto faced Austin Trout. Trout was the bigger man coming into the fight and was able to use his size to his advantage for 12 rounds against Cotto. Trout would win the fight by unanimous decision and give the Puerto Rican star the fourth loss of his career. I think back to that fight and end up asking myself “Will Rodriguez use his size advantage to outbox Cotto for 12 rounds?’
If Rodriguez can do this and give Cotto his 5th loss, Rodriguez will close so many doors for Cotto. That will mean Cotto will not be in any big fights for the remainder of his career. There are rumors that Saul Alvarez’s trainer Eddie Reynoso is targeting Cotto as the next fighter to face Alvarez if Cotto can win his bout against Rodriguez. Rodriguez can destroy any big plans for Cotto such as Cotto versus Alvarez in 2014, if Rodriguez is successful tonight.
Even though Cotto is a future Boxing Hall of Famer and has nothing left to prove, it would be disappointing to see Cotto’s career end without one last big fight. I would really like to believe Cotto has plenty of fight left in him, but it is unknown how much gas is left in his tank. We will all have to wait and see what happens tonight inside the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida when the Dominican journeyman goes toe to toe with one of the all-time greats from Puerto Rico.
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