By Ricardo Lucero: Miguel Angel Cotto is one of the most civil and gentlemanly fighter in the sports of boxing today.He has very close ties to his family, especially his late father. A loving family man who dotes on his kids and wife. He won the silver medal in the junior world championships in 1998 in Argentina. His resume is highlighted with wins over names like Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, Kelson Pinto, a silver medalist himself and who was undefeated until he faced Cotto. Miguel avenged his amateur loss to the gold medalist Mohammad Adbulaev, Paul Malignaggi was also undefeated when he fought Cotto.

In summary, his resume has all it takes to take him to the very top. He was groomed to take Tito Trinidad’s place among the hearts of Puerto Ricans. But then,the Margarito fight happened. It was a most disgusting thing for the Margarito camp to have done what they did. Deplorable, really. Being battered in such fashion have a huge impact on fighters, and Cotto is no exception.

When a fighter keeps winning, his confidence seems boundless, that he builds an illusion of invincibility of himself. He believes it, the fans believe it. Losing is not a part of his mindset, at least, not yet, anyway. Mike Tyson was so feared during his reign at the top, until Buster Douglas came along. In physics,every action has an opposite and equal reaction. Everything has a yin and yang, the north pole with the south pole,every top a bottom, every left a right. And it applies to boxing too.

When a fighter is so successful with his style and technique, flaws are overlooked.Up until a mediocre boxer comes along to expose that flaw.Many fighters who retired undefeated, like Rocky Marciano, Sven Ottke, Joe Calzaghe did so, because they didn’t face the men who could have defeated them. Maybe not in their lifetimes anyway. But what really sets apart being great from being mediocre is not the defeat in itself. Rising up from a loss is very tough, especially to these men.

The way the loss was incurred compounds it more so. But getting up from that defeat, coming back from a humbling loss is what really counts, which many people don’t realize. Mental toughness is measured when the fear that set in the loss is tamed and overcome. It’s not the fear of physical pain, although it weighs on their minds too. Being punched in the face and getting double vision while you feel you knees betraying you is not the most pleasant feeling in the world. But it’s part of their world.

It’s mostly the fear of losing. Overcoming that fear invokes a sturdiness of mind. Sometimes, for fighters, it’s a blessing in disguise to have been beaten early in their careers. It toughens them up mentally. They get to fight more carefully,always aware of that possibility. And most importantly, they get to see the flaws in their styles that were invisible before and get to correct them.

On his upcoming fight with Yuri Foreman, Cotto will get to test himself.He is not “past it” as many would suggest. But, it’s true that his once invincible armor is chipped. If he couldn’t get past this hurdle, then he would need to do a lot of soul searching within himself. But if he does come out victorious, then he truly deserve to be in the hearts of Puerto Ricans and boxing fans around the world.

I myself, do hope Cotto succeeds.