By Jorge Lugo: Last night I had the privilege of watching Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao. In what I knew was going to be a classic, I simply found myself going crazy with the anticipation simply because I honestly could not tell who would win. The three boxing fights before the main fight wouldn’t help my wait as they were awfully boring and long. But when the time came for the actual fight I was all focused.
When Manny Pacquiao came out to the ring with the Rocky music I was done for. I knew right then and there that I would be rooting for Pacquiao simply because I honestly thought he wouldn’t be able to get pass Cotto the underdog, and although I am a huge Cotto fan, I was also a big supporter of Pacquiao and how he always fights the best. But right after I made my decision on who I would be going for, I would see Cotto coming out and when I saw him, something happened.
After watching and studying countless Pacquiao and Cotto fights (Yes I study fighters!), I became all to familiar with the usual focus and confidence with Miguel Cotto in his fights, coming to the ring you could always see he was fully sure of himself! He always carried himself with very high demeanor and confidence. Surprisingly though, I did NOT see that confidence on his face as he walked in to the ring last night. To give you an honest opinion, Cotto looked unsure and more concerned on what his opponent might be offering him…
Fast forward 12 rounds and a brutal stoppage and Manny Pacquiao has officially made history and is the first fighter ever to win 7 different titles in 7 different weight classes. Taking nothing away from Manny Pacquiao, he has officially secured his spot in boxing history forever by literally demanding it from a naturally bigger fighter in his PRIME! But my question here is.. After all the shock and surprise goes away and everything settles in. What happens to Cotto now?
Regardless of how the fighters prepared or how smooth training camp went, one of the most sad and suprising things to me was that Miguel Cotto was in that fight alone against a Manny Pacquiao and Freddy Roach! In Cotto’s corner, instead of giving him techniques and game plans, from very early on they seemed morose there to try and encourage Cotto and inspire him to keep going?!? Almost like a support group. I was in utter disbelief when I heard Joe Santiago tell Cotto in round 4 to jab more and keep moving, when it was evident that Cotto was in sincere trouble! What happened to there game plan? What happened to there technique? What happened to Cotto’s corner?
Miguel Cotto in my eyes, is not the same fighter since the Margarito fight. To be honest I think he is BETTER! He showed last night that he has the heart and skill to hang in there with the best and even though it was stopped I know Cotto would have made it to the end. What I think his downfall was is poor game plan strategy by a really green corner. I can and have no problem telling anyone that Cotto had all the tools needed to beat Manny Pacquiao… It just wasn’t utilized.
Miguel Cotto said at the end of the fight that he would fight again and to be honest I think he should. But if he does he needs to get rid of his current team and recruit a focused, technical and experienced trainer as well as camp as it is never good for any fighter to be the one to dictate his own team.
We probably will never see a nothing boxing great like Manny Pacquiao in our lifetime. He fought brilliantly and used his game plan of the right cross over Cotto’s left beautifully. Regardless of a pending clash with Floyd Mayweather he is already in the history books. His legacy will live forever especially with such an impressive win! But what about Miguel Cotto? He has spent the last years fighting nothing but the best and winning against them! I truly feel he is a great fighter with a not so great team! Its just so unfortunate he had to find out this way. Where does he go from here?
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