WHAT?S NEXT FOR MIGUEL COTTO?
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 05 Dec 2012
Miguel Cotto, the legendary three-division and four-time world champion from Puerto Rico, lost to the still undefeated Austin Trout last December 1, 2012 for the WBA light-middleweight title. The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for Cotto and his fans as a potential unification fight with WBC junior middleweight champion Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez was next in line had Cotto won over Trout.
But Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, declared ?There?s still a possibility we?ll see Canelo-Cotto fight,? as quoted by Eastside Boxing. He said the styles of Cotto and Alvarez matched properly and Alvarez had long wanted to fight Cotto, a very popular fighter. He was one of the three boxers ?Canelo? would want to face other than Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Sergio Martinez.
Trout was true to his moniker ?No Doubt.? There was no doubt on his win over Cotto as he won handily by a unanimous decision on scores of 117-111, 117-111, and 119-109. PunchStat reported that Trout threw more total punches as against Cotto, 779-628 and landed more total punches 238-183. The American champion also released more jabs 349-175 and connected more of these jabs 46-29 and connected more power punches 192-154 for a bigger percentage 45% as compared to Cotto?s 34%.
It was Cotto?s first loss at the Madison Square Garden in New York. He was simply dominated by the younger, fresher and hungrier champion. The bigger Trout who was a natural light-middleweight and sometimes fought at the middleweight used his size to his advantage. Cotto was a natural welterweight and had to adjust to the light-middleweight division.
?Miguel Cotto is a great champion,? Trout praised Cotto as quoted by Fight News. ?He?s a great fighter and it was an honor to be in the same ring as him. It?s even more of an honor to be the man to beat him. To have my hand raised against a kingpin like Miguel Cotto is a dream come true.?
The champion from El Paso, Texas affirmed that it was the toughest fight he had as a professional. ?Those shots that Cotto hit me with were strong and I knew he?d be strong, but it reconfirmed that I could take those shots. It was definitely the hardest fight of my career and when you fight someone as big as Miguel Cotto, it motivated me.?
But no doubt about it again. Trout reacted to the planned Cotto-Alvarez showdown. ?Give me Canelo ? it?s time to unify this division. You?d think that he?d be ready to fight me because I beat Miguel Cotto. I beat his brother (Rigoberto Alvarez). He should want to fight me. There?s nothing left for him to do, besides fight a real junior middleweight, to get another belt.?
There?s no doubt Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions wanted a bigger pay-per-view attraction in the Puerto Rican star. The Mexican fighting the Puerto Rican would be a huge box-office appeal. Both Mayweather and Martinez were not open yet to facing ?Canelo.? So Cotto would be the next PPV target.
Cotto on the other hand said after the fight, ?I?m satisfied with the job I did tonight. I?ll go back to Puerto Rico and think. He came at me with both hands and it was a great fight. He fought until the end.? Trout increased his unblemished record 26-0-0 with 14 KOs. Cotto plunged to 37-4-0 with 30 KOs while Alvarez had 41-0-1 with 30 KOs.
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