As Miguel Cotto preps for his last fight, there is a lingering question about his career. What will he be remembered for… the wins or the losses? Of course, we can’t ask that question of Floyd Mayweather Jr. but we can ask it of Cotto and look at how it will impact his legacy.
Muhammad Ali lost to Joe Frazier in the first fight but he’s known for so many big wins. The Thrilla in Manila (Ali-Frazier III). The Rumble in Jungle (Ali-Foreman). Even Sugar Ray Leonard, who suffered his first loss in his super bout with Roberto Duran, is more remembered for his win in his first fight against Tommy Hearns and his fight against Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Speaking of Hagler, if it wasn’t for his win over Hearns we might be asking the same of him as we are of Cotto.
Like Hearns, Cotto will be remembered for coming up short. His first loss against Antonio Margarito was marred by Margarito taking the “hands of steal” moniker a little too serious as he used plaster to harden up his wraps. Though Margarito denied loading his gloves, Cotto’s camp (and the public for that matter) didn’t buy it.
“The only people who can tell you for sure if those [inserts] were in there is Margarito and his trainer, but you have the picture now, so people know,” Cotto said.
So, despite losing his undefeated record, it seemed that Cotto was still undefeated in the boxing community.
After wins over Michael Jennings and Joshua Clottey, Cotto thrusted himself back in the spotlight and made a deal to fight Manny Pacquiao at a catchweight of 145 lbs. This proved to be a massive mistake. Cotto never looked like himself as Pacquaio boxed circles around him in what proved to be a disappointing lopsided result (109-99, 108-99, 108-100). Any chance of a rematch broke down when Cotto’s camp insisted on a catchweight of 150 lbs and Pacquaio was only willing to go up to 147.
Once again Cotto went on another winning streak, this time he ran off three in a row including a satisfying win in his rematch with Margarito. The winning streak earned him a marquee bout against the best fighter of this generation in Floyd Mayweather Jr. Cotto would be the beneficiary of Pacquaio as Mayweather made it a point to fight him at 154 lbs as an attempted slight at his Filipino rival. Mayweather was in the pocket most of the night giving Cotto an opportunity to have more success than most imagined coming into the fight. He bloodied Mayweather’s nose. At times, he had Mayweather on the ropes where he had success landing punches. But, in the end, there’s a reason why Mayweather is the best as his combination of speed and power took over the fight includng wobbling Cotto in the 12th on a perfect uppercut. When it was all said and done, Cotto suffered another lopsided loss on the judges scorecards (118-110, 117-111 (2x)). But, still Cotto had showed well against the GOAT.
Times columnist Bill Dwyre said “It wasn’t that Mayweather hadn’t fought well, and hadn’t deserved the decision. It was just that Cotto had given him more, lots more, than perhaps anybody else in Mayweather’s now 43-0 run.
Perhaps it was a hangover from the Mayweather loss but Cotto went on to lose his next fight against Austin Trout in New York no less. At that point, experts wondered where Cotto’s career was going. But, a big performance against against Sergio Martinez, who had lost a step, put Cotto back into the position to get another big fight this time against the young stud, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. In the Alvarez fight, Cotto went full boxing mode and seemingly kept it close all night but the judges didn’t see it that way scoring the fight 118-110, 119-109, and 117-111. Though one can argue that the scorecards could’ve been closer, there was never any controversy over who won.
It proved to be Cotto’s last big fight and like Hearns against Hagler and Leonard, he was the warrior who came up short in his biggest fights.
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