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 Miguel Cotto: Fighting for Respect
By Diego Morilla (January 31, 2003)
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Some fighters count medals and belts jumping over a fence when they’re trying to sleep. Others simply visualize dollar bills rolling into their bank accounts as they lay in bed at the end of the day. For Miguel Cotto, the dream has only one name: respect.
One would think that being the most outstanding amateur boxer during the heyday of Felix "Tito" Trinidad, Cotto’s career would spark the kind of interest reserved for the heir apparent to the greatest pugilist ever produced by the island of Puerto Rico. But that wasn’t always the case.
As a third generation fighter, the young amateur boxer was groomed to become a star. Cotto devoted his childhood and teenage days to studying how to dissect, tear apart and destroy opponents with cold-blooded style.
With a mind designed to respect every rule in the book -- from the perfect way to throw a hook to the proper way to behave in the ring and out of it to saying just the right amount of words to the press -- young Cotto probably thought that cheating was out of his way to boxing stardom.
But fate had a surprise in store for him.
Cotto was cheated out of amateur success by a number of unfortunate decisions (Winnipeg, Sydney, and many others) and the plan had to be redrawn. Few people took notice of his amazing skills and his uncanny ring savvy. He became just a number, a first-round loser in big time competitions.
This lack of fortune in the amateur ranks pushed him to the backburner in the negotiating table. But it would be in the professional ranks where he would find the most appropriate stage for his amazing talent.
Fast, powerful with both hands, precise and careful in his choice of punches, Cotto is as close as it gets to an open boxing handbook. His style is flawless, with endless variations and combinations that never cease to astonish and confuse his rivals.
After a number of early successes, tragedy struck him when he was involved in a car accident near his hometown of Caguas, Puerto Rico, in which he damaged his right arm pretty badly. It could have been a career-wrecking accident for any other fighter, but Miguel fought on, and he has managed to come back after several surgeries helped him restore the damaged bones in his shoulder, racking seven victories in a row against the likes of tough contenders such as Justin Juuko and John Brown. In his last outing, on November 22nd, he stopped Ubaldo Hernández in the seventh round.
Managed by Peter Rivera and co-managed and trained by his uncle Evangelista Cotto, the 22 years-old Puerto Rican marvel gets ready for Cesar Bazán, his biggest test to date, hoping to turn the tables on the former 135 lb. champion and repeat the dose given to him by his countryman Carlos "Topo" Gerena, a tough contender who handed Bazan his last defeat, a split-decision loss in Gerena’s hometown of Ponce on October 28th.
Bazán (39-5-1,27 KO) has the height (6’ versus 5’8’’) and reach (78’’ versus 67’’) advantages against Cotto, who nevertheless figures to have the advantage of his superior power and ring generalship, as well as the age advantage (22 versus 28). Miguel spars with his former Olympic teammate, Rubén Fuchú, a tall and lanky welter with a long reach and a looping right hand in the Bazan mold, in his effort to be prepared for a challenge that could turn out to be the kind of career-making success that he needs to make the transition from prospect to legitimate contender.
E-Mail Diego Morilla at d_morilla@hotmail.com
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