7 factors to consider when rating Miguel Cotto and his class as a fighter today
As we come ever closer to the May 5th rumble between Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto, there has been a good deal of debate about the merits of the match. Is Miguel Cotto a worthy opponent? Does he have a chance at upsetting Mayweather? Is he even as good as he used to be?
These are all worthy questions, and therefore it’s time to take a closer inspection of Cotto, and examine his standing right now across a number of fronts. The way it works is that I’ll examine different aspects of Cotto’s game, and some of the issues that people may have with him and his abilities at this point in time.
I’ll provide both the “no” and the “yes” sides to each issue to shed more light and just how good Cotto is today, and how we should feel about the Mayweather-Cotto clash.
So, is this the best Miguel Cotto has ever been?
- No: He’s been knocked out, and battered, twice.
- Yes: After exacting his revenge against Antonio Margarito, he can put aside any lingering doubts about himself, and can feel confident that he has rebounded and even grown since those losses. In his mind, without those plaster hand wraps, he doesn’t lose against Margarito, and perhaps he’s more durable against Manny Pacquiao as well. He’s been knocked out, but he can move ahead with his career with a clean slate and a fresh start.
- No: He’s not as highly ranked as he used to be, and he’s no longer a top fighter.
- Yes: The hype has been beaten out of his image, but he’s currently the number 1 junior middleweight according to our rankings. He is not as high up on the pound for pound list as he used to be, currently residing at #19 in our top 20, but he’s now a three-division titleholder, and he’s won three fights in a row.
- No: He’s not a real junior middleweight.
- Yes: Miguel Cotto is certainly undersized in terms of height and reach compared to many junior middleweights. However, he is sturdier in this division without having to cut as much weight. Against Mayweather, he’ll be at a reach disadvantage, but will be fighting a guy who is a natural welterweight having advanced up from super featherweight. Cotto is used to dealing with bigger, stronger men, so that’s not a concern here.
- No: He has chin issues.
- Yes: Miguel Cotto had chin issues when he was fighting at junior welterweight. Since he moved up in weight, that hasn’t been the case. He ran into a wall in Pacquiao, and a plaster-reinforced wall in Margarito, and withstood a great deal of punishment before succumbing to both men very late in each fight. A more serious concern may be his recent track record of cutting and swelling.
- No: He’s not as aggressive or powerful as he once was.
- Yes: He’s not as aggressive as he once was because he has developed a more complete game, and he’s not facing smaller guys who he can simply breeze past. He’s a superior boxing technician and all-around fighter than he was as a titleholder at 140 lbs, and while his power isn’t the same against junior middleweights, he has busted up and stopped all three that he has faced. Further, only two opponents have seen the final bell against Cotto since he moved up to welterweight in December 2006.
- No: He hasn’t accomplished much at 154 lbs, and he hasn’t beaten a top opponent in a long time.
- Yes: Coming off a win over Daniel Santos, Yuri Foreman was a top 5 guy in the division at the time Cotto fought him, and he defeated Foreman with ease. Mayorga and Margarito are has-beens, but the Margarito fight was something he needed for self-assurance. The fact is, nobody in the division right now has accomplished much, and Cotto’s credentials stack up with nearly anybody’s right now.
- No: Everyone is expecting Cotto to lose.
- Yes: The betting odds for Mayweather vs. Cotto show Miguel Cotto as a huge underdog. I’d argue that he’s not being given enough credit. More importantly though, he gets to come into the fight with no burden of expectations or high performance. The pressure is all on Mayweather here, and Cotto can be calm and comfortable, and simply look to give it his best shot.
Is this the best Miguel Cotto has ever been? I’ll leave that up to you to decide – although I believe that many of the concerns and doubts about him have been overstated, or are incorrect. Feel free to chime in with your comments and thoughts below.
