Cotto has bigger fish to fry than Mayweather

By Boxing News - 01/20/2015 - Comments

cotto644By Sizzle JKD: Here’s the thing, WBC and The Ring lineal middleweight champion Miguel Cotto has bigger and better things to worry about than the money he would stand to earn fighting Floyd Mayweather a second time.

For one thing, if Cotto fought Mayweather on May 2nd, he would be the B-Side to Floyd’s A-Side. Floyd would pocket an easy $35+ million and Cotto would get somewhere in the range of $10-15 million. Above all, Cotto would put his middleweight titles on the line against Floyd, most likely losing his hard earned middleweight titles in the process. Too much risk, too little reward, and ultimately not enough money for Cotto, therefore we won’t ever see him fight Mayweather.

Ask yourself this: Why would Cotto, who is just as competitive as any boxer alive, give Floyd the opportunity of lifetime and give him the satisfaction of gaining a 6th division title? For a measly $10 million and B-Side status? You’ve got to be kidding me. Cotto is no fool.

I’m sure Cotto is thinking about all of these factors when evaluating the opportunities, or lack thereof, in fighting Mayweather.

Hence the question: Who will Cotto fight next? He hasn’t fought since June 2014 and he has to come up with an opponent fast.

Gennady Golovkin immediately comes to mind. Golovkin’s brand is rising and he is already a star in many people’s eyes. GGG brings action and entertainment, and a fight against Cotto would certainly test Cotto’s mettle at the 160 lb. division. But is it a smart move for Cotto and his team to fight Golovkin? At this juncture, probably not.

Golovkin wants Cotto because Golovkin wants and needs to be in the spotlight. Cotto, meanwhile, probably feels like he needs to further test himself against fighters like Erislandy Lara, Daniel Geale, Andy Lee, or Peter Quillin.

Cotto, at 5’7”, stands at a huge height disadvantage against true middleweights, who are typically anywhere between 5’10” and 6’2.” Rumor has it that Cotto may face 5’6” Tim Bradley in June. This is a horrible idea and does nothing to improve Cotto’s stature at 160.

Cotto’s confidence is at an all-time high, and with Freddie Roach in his corner, I can see Cotto defending his belt successfully at least a couple more times.
Cotto is a first ballot Hall-of-Famer and any fighter he faces save for Mayweather or Pacquiao guarantees Cotto as the A-Side. Since Canelo Alvarez is asking for too high of a price tag as a B-Side in a Cotto fight, Cotto is looking in another direction.

This direction has Cotto pointing towards an opponent like Daniel Geale or Erislandy Lara in June.

Against Geale, Cotto would be fighting a common opponent of GGG. This would be a good measuring stick for Cotto before the eventual showdown with Triple G.

Against Lara, he has another common opponent of Canelo. Should Cotto be victorious against any of these two fighters, it would set up (with great anticipation) an eventual showdown at 160 lbs against either Golovkin or Alvarez where Cotto is the A-Side and where Cotto would stand to make at least $20-25 million, a purse he would never make if he fought Mayweather.

In today’s boxing landscape, when it comes to prizefighters late in their primes, a fighter’s management team tends to increase its focus on low risk, high reward fights and preserving what’s most logical for the prizefighter’s best interests until the money is right to move ahead with a huge fight against a top notch challenger.

For Cotto, it would be wise for him to maintain his focus on building a legacy at middleweight rather than fight Floyd, who most likely won’t defend the 160 lb. belt.

Cotto should set his sights on an eventual matchup with Golovkin in late 2015 or early 2016 because a victory over an undefeated GGG to become THE undisputed middleweight champion of the world would mean a lot more to Cotto’s legacy and Hall of Fame career than a meaningless bout with a welterweight like Mayweather. Floyd would have more to gain while Cotto would have much more to lose.
At the end of the day, Cotto has bigger fish to fry.



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