Miguel Cotto
MIGUEL COTTO WON’T “GO AWAY”
San Juan, Puerto Rico– After not adhering to the advice of thousands of fans who when asked if ex-champ Miguel Cotto (37-4, 30 KOs) should retire, almost everybody agreed, everybody but Cotto! The one-time upper echelon boxer will be fighting with a new trainer Freddie Roach working his corner after months of negotiations with Showtime who wanted nothing to do with a Cotto-Delvin Rodriguez (28-6-3, 16 KOs) fight. So he went back to Top Rank and HBO will put him and Rodriquez in the NBA Orlando Magic’s home, the Amway Arena in Orlando FL on October 5.
FIGHT TO HELP LOCAL ORLANDO ECONOMY
At a recent press conference in Orlando, Cotto said this fight will help the city’s economy and that there hasn’t been professional prizefighting in town in decades. Rodriquez, a Dominican said, “I‘m going to give my people a good show” in what he admits is a “Do or die opportunity for me, because if I beat Cotto I will get the recognition.“
TWO HISPANICS GOING IN HEAVY HISPANIC AREA
A huge part of the local population, Hispanics abound in Orlando especially Puerto Ricans. In the neighbor city of Kissimmee, the Civic Center Arena has been a venue professional boxing has been going on for a while . Combining those groups spread over two cities, and you would expect a good turnout, except for the fact it is live on HBO.
COTTO HAS “NOTHING” TO BE ASHAMED OF
Having been a vocal part of the majority who thought Cotto should retire as he has already formed a fine legacy in that he’s been a three-time world champion fought the best, he’s not broke nor is he mumbling from boxing, all he doing is tarnishing his name as he is now viewed as something of a stepping stone.
FIGHTING TOO HEAVY CAN BE A HAZARD
He’s not fighting on his natural weight, Cotto is well put together jr. welter (140), maybe welterweight (147) but not a jr.luckily middleweight or 154 lbs. Rodriguez towers over Cotto by four inches and he’s got him in reach as well. This looks like the Austin Trout fight, one in which Cotto was taken apart by the size of Trout, who luckily for Miguel isn’t a puncher.
THEN THERE IS THE “DESIRE” OF COTTO
Cotto may have the experience, but he’s lost the will. I remember him telling Max Kellerman circa the fight with Antonio Margarito, “I will not die in the ring, as I’ve got a family and four beautiful children. Well, that says a lot to me as he’s just fighting for a payday and if things get tough and nasty with Rodriguez, he might just stay on the stool. On paper Rodriguez looks like a guy Cotto should beat. But “should” and “will” rarely go together in boxing.
Manny Caballero