Who will Cotto fight next?

By Timothy Medina - 12/07/2013 - Comments

cotto5By: Timothy Medina After last October 5th, Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) had set himself up for a mega-fight in 2014. There have been rumors of a fight between Cotto and Saul Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) being set up for March 8th of next year and that it is almost a done deal.

Then there are rumors that it seems Cotto will move up a weight class to fight Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) for his WBC Middleweight title on June 7th of next year. Cotto has been offered $10 million to face Alvarez by Richard Schaefer and supposedly he has been offered $15 million by Top Rank Promotions to face Martinez.

The rumors of Cotto being offered $15 million to step in the ring with Martinez were concluded false two days ago. According to Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, Cotto has not received that offer. Arum claims he has never been consulted about that offer. Does this mean that a Cotto-Martinez bout in 2014 will not happen? Absolutely not. There is still a chance of it happening because Arum is going to want Cotto to re-sign with Top Rank and Cotto must be considering the chance to become the first Puerto Rican fighter with a title in four different weight classes.

Cotto must also be considering how huge a fight with “Canelo” will be. The fight could earn a high number of Pay-Per-View buys. Possibly the fight could even set a record for Pay-Per-View buys being labeled as “The Pride of Puerto Rico meeting Mexico’s biggest star in the ring”.

Whichever route Cotto takes, an opportunity to add another enormous milestone to his legacy will be in sight. Cotto has a strong chance of being victorious against either of the two fighters. I am aware that I will be criticized heavily for stating that and I will explain why I did. I will also provide the pros and cons of fighting Alvarez and Martinez.

Let me begin with the pros and cons of Cotto stepping into the ring with Alvarez. Alvarez is much younger than Cotto as there is a ten year difference in age. Cotto is thirty three years old and Alvarez is twenty three years old. Not only is Alvarez younger than Cotto, he is clearly bigger and possesses a longer reach. It sounds like Alvarez has many advantages doesn’t it? Well for a fighter who is so young, he does not have very good stamina. In fact, he runs out of gas very quickly in his fights. In Alvarez’s recent fights, he became fatigued when the middle rounds arrived.

Cotto has better stamina than Alvarez despite being ten years older. It Cotto is successful at ripping Alvarez with ferocious left hooks to the body, he can take wind out of Alvarez’s sails. This will leave Alvarez extremely tired and could possibly place him in a lot of danger. Alvarez’s flat feet only makes that worse because he will not be able to move around and avoid a swarm of punches from Cotto.

Cotto should not attempt to go toe-to-toe with Alvarez from the beginning because Alvarez does hit much harder and can have him on shaky legs early. Instead, Cotto should be moving away and force Alvarez to come to him. When Alvarez comes to throw punches Cotto needs to stand his ground, go to the body, move away and do this repeatedly. It is a similar game plan to the one Cotto executed against Antonio Margarito though instead of attacking the right eye, he will be attacking the body. Once Alvarez is fatigued, Cotto should then bring the fight to him without any problems. Cotto will be winning many of the rounds easily if this game plan is executed and he will win the fight for Puerto Rico.

Now I will provide the pros and cons of Cotto meeting Martinez in the ring. Cotto has never fought as a middleweight so many fans will be curious about how he will fight at 160 pounds or at a catch-weight of 158 pounds offered by Martinez. I do not believe Cotto will have a problem making weight or fighting as a middleweight. He has been fighting very well as a super welterweight and became a four-time world champion by winning the WBA Super Welterweight Championship back in 2010, retained it twice in 2011 and lost it in 2012.

Cotto will be in a different world once he goes up to be a middleweight, though I feel he will adjust nicely. Many boxing fans say that Cotto is too small to be a middleweight. They say Martinez is bigger than Cotto and that if they fight, he will be bullied by the champion in the ring. I would like to disagree with those people. I already know Martinez has a much longer reach so he is going to fight on the outside and try to keep Cotto at bay. People are going to expect Martinez to use a lot of movement. However, I do not expect to see the movement from Martinez that others expect to see.

If I recall, Martinez injured his right knee during his fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and the injury returned in his fight with Martin Murray. You cannot expect a fighter’s movement to be what it once was after the same leg injury occurring in two consecutive fights. If Martinez cannot really move around, Cotto can walk into Martinez and exchange punches with him. I can see Cotto putting pressure on Martinez and wearing him down with body punching.

We can also not forget Martinez broke his left hand. The left hand of Martinez could be hurt while brawling with Cotto and the champion could find himself in some trouble. These injuries can give Martinez a tough time trying to fight Cotto and much pressure will be put on him. All Cotto needs to do is take advantage of these factors and put pressure on Martinez. If Martinez wants to brawl, Cotto should let him brawl. Martinez is going to use fire to fight fire to try and stop Cotto’s offense. Cotto can capitalize on his mistakes, counter with hooks, keep Martinez stationed, continue to land effectively and Cotto will have the fight.

I am one of the few that believe Cotto is very likely to become the first Puerto Rican fighter in boxing to win a world championship in four weight classes or triumph over the current number one fighter from Mexico. Whether he decides to re-sign with Top Rank Promotions to fight Martinez or sign with Golden Boy Promotions to fight Alvarez, there is a milestone waiting for Cotto in 2014.



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