Miguel Cotto

Miguel Angel Cotto was born in Providence, Rhode Island in the United States on 29th October 1980, but he fought out of his hometown Caguas in Puerto Rico. Cotto started boxing at the age of eleven and as an amateur complied a record of 125-23.

In 1993 he lost on points to fellow Puerto Rican and future minimum and light-flyweight champion Ivan Calderon. In 1997 he lifted the gold medal lightweight title at the Pan American Championships in Columbia. In 1998 he picked up silver medals in the junior Pan America Championships and the World Junior Championships and the Central American and Caribbean Games, all in the lightweight division.

In 1999 he stepped up to the light-welterweight division and in 2000 won gold at the Central American and Caribbean Games held in Venezuela. That year he represented Puerto Rico at the Sydney Olympics, losing to Muhammad Abdullaev in the round of sixteen.

The following February he made his professional debut against fellow debutant Jason Doucet. Cotto got his career off to a wonderful start, flooring his man twice in the first round, before prevailing after just two-minutes 12 seconds of the round, winning by technical knockout. He stayed unbeaten for the first twelve months in the paid ranks and amassed a record of 7-0 with five wins inside the distance.

On 22nd June 2002 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Cotto took on the experienced Justin Juuko on the Marco Antonio Barerra vs Erik Morales rematch. Juuko had been in with some top super-featherweights. In February 1999, Juuko lost by an eleventh round TKO to Interim WBA super-featherweight champion Antonio Hernandez. Three months later he was knocked out in round nine by WBC super-featherweight boss Floyd Mayweather Junior.

On New Year's Eve 1999, Juuko picked up the vacant African Union super-featherweight title with a sixth round technical decision over David Ouma. In June 2000 he fought IBF super-featherweight champion Diego Corrales. The International Boxing Federation refused to sanction the contest as Juuko was outside of their top ten. Corrales ended up winning by a tenth round knockout. Juuko then won the vacant NABF title against Antonio Ramirez, losing it in his first defence to Ernesto Zepeda. With another win and loss under his belt, Juuko's record was 36-6-1 (26 KO's) as he took on the nine fight novice Cotto.

Cotto put Juuko down in the third and fourth rounds as he marched on to a fifth round TKO victory, as he improved to 10-0 (8 KO's). Cotto kept winning and in February 2003 he contested the vacant WBC International light-welterweight title against Mexico's Cesar Bazan. Cotto put his man down in the first, but the Mexican proved to be typically tough as he lasted into the eleventh round, before getting stopped with 16 seconds of the round gone.

A fourth round knockout victory over American Joel Perez in April 2003 set him up with another Mexican opponent, Rocky Martinez. Cotto's WBC International belt was on the line and so was the vacant WBO NABO light-welterweight tile. Cotto added the vacant belt with a body shot in the second round.

On 13th September 20003, he defended his WBC International title against Panama's Demetrio Ceballos. The bout was also a WBA light-welterweight title eliminator. The contest was on the undercard to Oscar De La Hoya vs Shane Mosley's rematch. Cotto won every round and cut his opponent in the sixth. The seventh ended with Ceballos taking punishment without much return and his corner pulled him out of the fight at the two-minutes 25 second mark. Cotto improved to 17-0 (14 KO's), whilst Ceballos retired with a resume of 26-5 (18 KO's) suffering his fourth stoppage defeat.

Cotto crammed in another defence of his International belt in December 2003, stopping Carlos Maussa in the eighth round. He defended it again at the end of February 2004, holding on to it with a fourth round TKO over Victoriano Sosa.

On 08th May 2004 Cotto took on South Africa's Lovemore Ndou. On the line was an IBF light-welterweight title eliminator, Cotto's WBC International belt and the vacant WBA Fedelatin crown. Cotto had to go the full twelve rounds for the first time in his career and took the unanimous decision 117-111, 115-113 and 116-112.

The victory put him in line to contest the vacant WBO light-welterweight crown against the hard punching Brazilian Nelson Pinto. Though Pinto boasted a 21-0 (19 KO's) record compared to Cotto's 20-0 (16 KO's), it was apparent that closer scrutiny of their respected opponents suggested that Cotto had mixed with a higher calibre.

The bout took place in Puerto Rico on 11th September 2004. Cotto put Pinto on the floor in the second round and again in the fifth before going on to stop his man 32 seconds into round six.

Cotto's first defence was against the former WBO light-welterweight champion Randall Bailey. The American first won the belt in the first round against Carlos Gonzalez in May 1999. He lost it in his third defence to Enter Julio via a split decision the following July. Two years later he captured the WBA interim belt by stopping future Cotto victim Demetrio Ceballos in three rounds. He lost to Cuban Diosbleys Hurtado for the vacant WBA strap with a seventh round kayo on 11th May 2002. Bailey would lose another crack at the WBO championship with an unanimous decision to DeMarcus Corley.

He then challenged Cotto for the title on 11th December 2004 on the Vitali Klitschko vs Danny Williams undercard at the Mandalay Bay Casino, Las Vegas. Cotto put Bailey down twice and stopped his man on cuts in the sixth round.

Up next was another former WBO champion DeMarcus Corley. On 30th June 2001, with only five days notice, Corley took the vacant belt by destroying Puerto Rico's Felix Flores in the first round. He defended it twice, before losing to Zab Judah by a split decision. He lost his next fight by unanimous decision in a WBC light-welterweight title eliminator to Floyd Mayweather.

He beat veteran Daryl Tyson on a points decision over eight rounds, before stepping in with Cotto. Corley was down in the first round, but managed to rock the champion in the third. Cotto came back to put his challenger to the canvas twice in the fifth, winning at the two-minutes 45 second mark of the round.

Cotto defended the belt a further three times and on 10th June 2006 he took on the undefeated challenger Paul Malignaggi. The challenger's record was 21-0 but he only had five stoppage victories compared to Cotto's twenty-two knockouts in twenty-six contests. Malignaggi proved to be a brave adversary as he was down in the second round. In the fifth he suffered an inch-and-a-half-long (3.81 cm) cut over his left eye. By round eleven he was showing a puffy nose, lip and jaw. The post fight examination revealed that the challenger suffered a broken right cheek bone. Cotto kept his belt for the sixth and final time by scores of 115-112 and two scores of 116-111.

On 02nd December 2006 Cotto stepped up to the welterweight limit and took on fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Quintana for the vacant WBA 147 pounds (66.68 KG) crown. Quintana was down twice in the fifth round. His face was showing welts under both eyes and a puff over the right eye. His corner tried to push him out for the sixth round, but he refused and retired on his stool, making Cotto a two-weight world champion.

Cotto then stopped his top WBA contender in his first defence. The German Oktay Urkal cut the champion in the fifth by an accidental head-but. He was deducted points in the seventh and eleventh rounds, prompting his trainer Ulli Wenger to throw in the towel. He claimed he stopped the fight due to unfair refereeing by Luis Pabon. Urkal never boxed again.

Former IBF light-welterweight champion Zab Judah was up next for the WBA welterweight champion. Judah first became champion in February 2000, stopping South African Jan Piet Bergman in an up and down encounter, stopping his man in the fourth round. He made five successful defences before getting stopped in the second round by WBC and WBA light-welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu. He got back on track, but then lost unanimously to Corey Spinks for the undisputed welterweight title in April 2004.

The following February Judah beat Spinks for the three major belts in the ninth round. Three months later he stopped Cosme Rivera with a third round TKO. He lost the WBC belt on points to Carlos Manuel Baldomir. Baldomir didn't claim the WBA or IBF belts as he didn't pay the sanctioning fees to the appropriate organisations. The WBA declared their title vacant, but the IBF allowed Judah to keep their belt.

On 08th April 2006 he took on Floyd Mayweather, losing his IBF title by unanimous decision. His next bout ended with a No Contest due to the referee ruling the cut forehead of Ruben Galvan was caused by an accidental head-butt, though a punch seemed to have caused the damage.

Though Judah never won a fight since May 2005, he was granted a shot at Cotto's WBA belt. The bout took place at Madison Square Garden on 09th June 2007. The champion was deducted a point for low blows in the third round. Cotto suffered a cut to the right side of his mouth and a cut right eye. Judah then had to take a knee in the ninth round and was put down in the eleventh as he was stopped after just 49 seconds of the round.

Cotto next stepped into the Madison Square Garden ring on 10th November that year against 'Sugar' Shane Mosley. In August 1997 Mosley took the IBF lightweight title beating Phillip Holiday with a unanimous decision. He made eight successful defences, all by stoppage in fifteen months. He skipped the light-welterweight division and campaigned as a welterweight. After two more inside the distance victories he took on Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC welterweight crown.

He won the green belt on a split decision and defended it three times, again showing his punching power by not going the distance. He then tasted defeat, losing his title to Vernon Forrest twice by unanimous decision. He then beat De La Hoya again for the WBC and WBA 'Super' light-middleweight titles. He then suffered back to back losses to IBF champion Ronald Wright.

Mosley won his next five bouts, stopping Fernando Vargas twice on the way before dropping down a weight division to take on Cotto. In an exciting encounter the punch stats showed that both men landed the same amount of punches (248). Cotto's jab landed 98 times compared to Mosley's 71, but the challenger did land 177 power punches, compared to Cotto's 150. It was a close contest, but the champion kept the title with a 115-113 (twice) and 116-113 unanimous decision.

April 2008 saw Cotto make defence number four against Mexico's Alfonso Gomez. The challenger was outgunned and floored in rounds two, three and five, before retiring on his stool at the end of the fifth.

The MGM Grand in Las Vegas held Cotto's next defence to Antonio Margarito on 26th July 2008. Margarito won the vacant WBO welterweight title stopping Antonio Diaz in the tenth round. He made three successful defences, before losing his belt to Daniel Santos. They boxed previously, but an accidental clash of heads for the WBO title back in July 2001 ended with a 'No Contest'. Three years later a head clash caused the fight to go to the scorecards in the tenth round, with Santos winning by a technical decision. Margarito won six fights, losing to Paul Williams on points for his old WBO belt. Two victories later he became the IBF welterweight champion, defeating Kermit Cintron with a body punch in round six.

Cotto took the early initiative as he frequently landed punches on Margarito, using his superior footwork to stay out of harm's way. The challenger wasn't to be denied as he pressed and pursued Cotto around the ring. Magarito's persistence paid off as he trapped Cotto on the ropes and eventually hurt the champion in the seventh round as a couple of right uppercuts caused the champion's nose to bleed.

Margarito inflicted further damage in the tenth. At the start of the eleventh round Cotto was against the ropes and bleeding profusely from his injuries. Another Margarito attack forced Cotto to the canvas. He got up, but was met by another barrage which sent him down again, with Cottos' corner throwing in the towel after two-minutes and 05 seconds of the round. It was the first defeat in Cotto's career in thirty-three contests.

Controversy surrounded Margarito's next fight against Shane Mosley as before the contest officials found a type of plaster to make casts hidden in Margarito's hand wraps. His hands were rewrapped and the contest went ahead, with Margarito losing by a ninth round TKO. On 28th January 2009 (four days after the fight) the California State Athletic Commission temporarily suspended Margarito and his trainer Javier Capetillo's boxing licence.

Cotto then contested the vacant WBO welterweight crown against Britain's Michael Jennings at Madison Square Garden on 21st February 2009. The bout started slowly, with both boxers feeling each other out with their jabs. It was Cotto who forced the action in the second round, with Jennings looking to tie up his opponent. In the fourth round Jennings' nose began to bleed. In the final minute of the round Cotto exploded with a left hook and followed up the success with some body shots, which put the Brit down. Jennings got up, only to be floored again by another body attack. He was getting battered, but survived to hear the bell. Jennings came out for the fifth in survival mode. He was trapped against the ropes as Cotto ripped in another body attack, Jennings was down again. He got up bravely but was in no position to continue, meaning Cotto had a world title around his waist again.

He defended the title against Ghana's Joshua Clottey. He put the African down in the first round, but after suffering some facial damage due to an accidental head clash retained his belt with a twelve round split decision.

Next up for Cotto was four weight world champion Manny Pacquiao, who held titles at flyweight, super-bantamweight, super-featherweight and lightweight. Pacquiao was coming off big wins against Oscar De La Hoya, who he destroyed in eight rounds. In his previous contest he won by chillingly knocking out Ricky Hatton in the second round.

The WBO welterweight contest took place at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas on 14th November 2009, at a catchweight of 145 pounds (65.77 KG). Early in the third, the champion was down from a right hand. As he advanced forward in the fourth, a huge left from Pacquiao put Cotto on the canvas again. Pacquiao went on to dominate Cotto and in the final round had the champion on the ropes. Dave Moretti, the third man in the ring, deemed that Cotto wasn't punching back and stepped in, 55 seconds into the round. Cotto wanted to quit on his stool at the end of the previous round, but his corner told him to continue.

In June 2010 Cotto took on unbeaten WBA light-middleweight champion Yuri Foreman. It was Foreman's first defence after defeating Daniel Santos on the Cotto-Pacquiao card. It was Cotto's first fight under the tutelage of the great trainer Emanuel Steward.

The challenger was winning pretty much every round. In the seventh round Foreman slipped and damaged his knee. Foreman continued, but due to his injured knee couldn't keep his feet. Midway through the eighth, Cotto was beginning to land some serious shots. With his damaged knee, Foreman's trainer threw in the towel. There was confusion, everybody piled into the ring and the fighter's even embraced, but the referee asked Foreman if he wanted to continue.

The ring was cleared and the bout continued after a couple of minutes delay. Cotto landed a body shot in the ninth round, Foreman went down, partly from the punch and the fact he couldn't put weight on his injured leg. Arthur Mercante Junior stopped the contest and Cotto was a world champion once more, in his third weight class.

The following March Cotto stopped former welterweight and light-middleweight champion Ricardo Mayorga in the twelfth round. He then avenged his first defeat by Ricardo Margarito, forcing his man to retire on his stool after the ninth round due to a swollen right eye.

On 05th May 2012 Cotto shared the ring with the best pound-for-pound boxer at the time Floyd Mayweather Junior. Mayweather turned pro as a super-featherweight on 11th October 1996, stopping Roberto Apodaca in the second round. He amassed an unbeaten record of forty-two, with 26 KO's, capturing world titles at super-featherweight, lightweight, light-welterweight, welterweight and light-middleweight.

Mayweather was finally in a proper fight. The elusive Mayweather, who had a bloodied nose from Cotto's pressure ran out the winner over twelve rounds, winning by scores of 118-110 and two cards of 117-111. He told Cotto afterwards, "You're a hell of a champion. You're the toughest guy I've ever fought."

With Mayweather dropping back down to welterweight, Cotto contested his old WBA belt against America's Austin Trout on 01st December 2012. Southpaw Trout inflicted the third defeat of Cotto's career with a twelve round unanimous decision.

He didn't fight again until the following October where he stopped Delvin Rodriguez in the third round. On 07th June 2014 he stepped up to the middleweight division and fought WBC champion Sergio Martinez. The Argentinian became WBC and WBO champion by beating Kelly Pavlik in April 2010.

He was making his second defence of his second WBC reign. Cotto started fast and floored Martinez three times in the opening round, winning it 10-6. Cotto won every round and Martinez was pulled out on his stool at the end of the ninth, meaning Cotto became a four-weight world champion. Sergio Martinez retired after this defeat with a record of 51-3-2 (28 KO's).

In his first defence, Cotto stopped Daniel Geale in the fourth round. He then took on the former WBC and WBA light-middleweight champion Saul Alvarez, on 21st November 2015. The Mexican's only defeat came at the fists of Floyd Mayweather, who beat him on a majority decision.

Cotto, at thirty-five, stayed on his toes and moved nicely throughout this entertaining hard fought contest. The judges however, preferred the stalking style of the challenger and awarded him the contest with scores of 118-110, 119-109 and 117-111.

Cotto didn't box again until 26 August 2017 where he outpointed Japan's Yoshihiro Kamegai for the vacant WBO light-middleweight title. Cotto's final fight took place on 02nd December 2017 against America's Sadam Ali.

Unfortunately for Cotto he couldn't end his career with a victory as he lost a twelve round unanimous decision to the challenger 116-112 and two scores of 115-113. "I'm feeling good with the performance," he said afterwards. "Something happened to my left biceps but I don't want to make excuses, Sadam won the fight. I am proud to call MSG my second home."

Cotto's glittering career ends with him being a six-time world champion in four different weights. He retires with a professional record of 41-6 (33 KO's).

All the best fight fans

Lea

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