Miguel Cotto

Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez (born October 29, 1980), best known as Miguel Cotto, is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He is the first Puerto Rican to have won world titles in four different weight classes, and is ranked as the world's fourth best light middleweight by The Ring magazine as of December 2016. In 2007 and 2009 he reached a peak pound for pound ranking of seventh by The Ring.
As an amateur, Cotto represented Puerto Rico in the lightweight and light welterweight divisions at various international events, including the 1999 Pan American Games, the 2000 Olympics, and the 1998 Junior World Championships; the latter of where he won a silver medal at lightweight. Having begun his professional career in 2001, Cotto defeated Kelson Pinto for the WBO light welterweight title in 2004. He made six successful defenses before vacating the title when he ascended to welterweight. In his first welterweight fight, in 2006, Cotto defeated Carlos Quintana for the vacant WBA title. He successfully defended it four times before a loss to Antonio Margarito in 2008, in what was his first professional defeat. The following year, he won the vacant WBO welterweight title, defending it once before losing it to Manny Pacquiao in the same year.
In 2010, Cotto moved up another division to light middleweight and won the WBA title from Yuri Foreman. Having been promoted by the WBA to Super champion status, Cotto won a 2011 rematch against Antonio Margarito. In 2012 he lost the WBA (Super) title to Floyd Mayweather Jr., in one of the most anticipated fights in modern boxing history. The year would end on a further sour note for Cotto, as he suffered an upset defeat to WBA (Regular) light middleweight champion Austin Trout. Two years later, Cotto defeated Sergio Martínez to win the unified WBC, Ring, and lineal middleweight titles. In doing so, he became the first Puerto Rican fighter in history to win a world title in four different weight classes. In 2015, he defended his titles once before losing to Canelo Álvarez.
Cotto started out his career as a hard-hitting pressure fighter, but has evolved over the years into a more refined boxer-puncher. He is considered to be one of the greatest boxers of his generation, as well as one of the very best from Puerto Rico, among the likes of Félix Trinidad, Wilfred Benítez, Héctor Camacho, Wilfredo Gómez, and Carlos Ortiz.

Cotto was born in Rhode Island, to Puerto Rican parents, and relocated to Caguas, Puerto Rico with his family before he was two. There are several figures linked to boxing in his family, including his late father Miguel Cotto Sr., his brother José Miguel Cotto, his second cousin Abner Cotto, and his uncle and former boxing trainer Evangelista Cotto. Cotto began boxing as a child to help lose weight, not anticipating it to end up being his career path. He was taken to the Bairoa Gym in Caguas. There, he was able to develop into a top amateur fighter.

The young Cotto participated in several international tournaments, these include: The 1998 Junior World Championships that took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he finished in second place while competing in the Lightweight division. His three victories here were by points, the results were: Andrey Kolevin of Ukraine by points 15-3; Dana Laframboise of Canada by points 6-1, and Darius Jasevicius representing Lithuania 9-5. His only loss was to Anton Solopov of Russia by points with a score of 8-9. In 1999, Cotto competed in the Pan American Games that took place in Winnipeg, Canada. He only fought once in a loss to Dana Laframboise of Canada by points with a final score of 2-5. Following his participation in the Pan American tournament, Cotto was part of the Boxing World Championships in Houston, Texas. He lost his only fight by points to Robertas Nomeikas. In his final amateur tournament, Cotto represented Puerto Rico as a Light Welterweight at 2000 Sydney Olympic Games where he lost to Mahamadkadir Abdullayev of Uzbekistan by points. Cotto decided to turn professional after the loss to Abdulaev, ending his amateur career with a record of 125-23.

Early career

Early in his career Cotto defeated former world title contender John Brown by decision in the tenth round. He led the score through the entire fight and scored a knockdown in the second round. The judges gave Cotto scores of 100-89 twice and 100-88.

In 2001, Cotto suffered a dangerous injury that threatened his boxing career. As he was driving to the gymnasium at 5 a.m., he apparently fell asleep and crashed, breaking his arm and requiring hospitalization.

On September 13, 2003, Cotto defeated Demetrio Ceballos by knockout in the seventh round at Las Vegas. In a fight where Cotto injured Ceballos with numerous combinations in the sixth round, switching between the orthodox and southpaw stances. In the seventh round Cotto displayed an aggressive style that led to the referee stopping the fight with 0:32 remaining in the round. With this, he was ranked number one in his division by the World Boxing Association.

Cotto's first fight of 2004, was a fourth round knockout victory over the former world title contender Victoriano Sosa. This was after an eventful week prior to the fight, which included Cotto having to wait four hours for his luggage to arrive (after a 2 a.m. local time arrival) at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, and almost being removed from the Mandalay Bay Hotel, where the fight was held, by a security guard who thought he was an unaccompanied minor.

On April 8, 2004, he defeated the former world title challenger, Lovemore N'dou, by unanimous decision in Las Vegas. The first three rounds of the fight had a slow pace with neither of the boxers establishing control of the fight. Cotto dominated the fourth and fifth rounds managing to land combinations on N'dou's head. N'dou won the seventh and eighth rounds after landing more accurate hits than Cotto. The last three rounds were even with both fighters establishing short periods of control in the fight. The judges gave Cotto scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.

Light welterweight

On September 11, 2004, Cotto faced Kelson Pinto from Brazil, for the vacant World Boxing Organization junior welterweight title. This represented the third fight between them, with Pinto being victorious in their two previous encounters, both of which took place while they were still amateurs. The fight was televised by HBO from San Juan, Puerto Rico. During this card Cotto utilized a defensive stance with his hands in a high position instead of his usual aggressive orthodox stance. Over the course of the fight Cotto scored three knockdowns and won the World Boxing Organization Junior Welterweight Championship by knockout in the sixth round.

On December 11, 2004, he successfully defended his title, beating former world champion Randall Bailey by knockout in the sixth round, as part of the Vitali Klitschko-Danny Williams undercard in Las Vegas. Cotto's performance was described as a result of hand speed and accuracy. During the fight Bailey received punches in his face that opened cuts over and under both of his eyes. As a result of the cuts Bailey was examined by the ringside physician. Following this Bailey expressed that he didn't want to continue and the referee stopped the fight at 1:39 of the sixth round. Eleven days later, on December 22, 2004 the Puerto Rican boxing commission named Cotto as Puerto Rico's fighter of the year for 2004. Cotto's second title defense took place on February 26, 2005 in the Rubén Rodríguez in Bayamón, Puerto Rico against Demarcus Corley. During the fight Cotto practiced a boxing style that was more aggressive than usual, trading hits with Corley over the course of the first round. During the fight both boxers were deducted one point following illegal low blows. Cotto scored three knockdowns before the fight was stopped by the referee at 2:45 of the fifth round following a combination by Miguel. Corley claimed that the referee stopped the fight prematurely stating that "the ref just stopped the fight premature. If he wanted to stop the fight, he could have stopped it when I had [Cotto] hurt." Just a few days after retaining the crown versus Corley, Cotto received a personal blow, when his stablemate and friend, former 2004 Olympian Joseph Serrano, was shot in the head upon leaving the Bairoa gym. Serrano survived the shot, but was in critical but stable condition at a local hospital.

On June 11, 2005, Cotto faced the last man to beat him as an amateur, former Olympic gold medalist Mohamed Abdulaev from Uzbekistan. As amateurs, Abdulaev eliminated Cotto from the first round of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. This time they met as professionals in New York City's Madison Square Garden. Before the beginning of the fight Cotto received a positive ovation from the public. During the first round Miguel went on the offensive scoring hits on Abdullaev's head and body while he was in a defensive stance. In the fourth round a left hook by Miguel hurt Abdullaev, who proceeded to focus his hits on Cotto's body. Abdullaev's offense was effective in the sixth and seventh rounds and as a result of this Cotto assumed a defensive stance. Following the eighth round Abdullaev's eye was swollen to the point of being almost entirely closed. In the ninth round following accurate punches by Cotto the fight's referee paused the fight and asked the ringside doctor to examine Abdullaev's eye. After being examined by the doctor Abdullaev indicated to the referee that he could not continue, this way Cotto retained the Welterweight division championship.

Miguel's third championship defense took place on September 24, 2005 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, against Ricardo Torres of Colombia. In the first round Cotto had an offensive advantage and scored a knockdown on Torres. In the second round after trading hits Torres scored a knockdown on Miguel. The last seconds of the round were evenly matched with both boxers finishing the round injured. Cotto was apparently in better condition when the third round began and was dominating the fight at that point. With two minutes remaining in the round one of Cotto's punches landed in Torres' beltline. Following this Torres was granted thirty seconds to recover by the referee. Cotto dominated the fourth round and Torres won the fifth. Cotto won and scored a knockdown in the sixth round. At 1:24 of the seventh round a left hook by Cotto knocked Torres out.

On March 4, 2006, Cotto defended his WBO Junior Welterweight title by knocking out Gianluca Branco, who had to give up during the eighth round of their bout due to a shoulder injury. Cotto dominated the fight as a result of jab combinations in a card that took place in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Cotto's next scheduled match was against the then-undefeated Paul Malignaggi in a fight that took place on June 10, 2006 in Madison Square Garden. Cotto opened a cut over Malignaggi's right eye in the first round,which, according to Malignaggi, affected his performance over the course of the fight, by stating "this was the first time in which I was cut, and the blood kept going into my eye. And it bothered me the entire fight. I was not able to see very well. Cotto's a great fighter, but I'm disappointed, as I wanted to be the champion". Cotto won the fight by unanimous decision with scores of 116-111 and 115-112. Malignaggi suffered a fractured right orbital bone and his jaw was injured, he was taken to Roosevelt Hospital after the fight's outcome was announced.

Welterweight

Cotto vs. Oktay Urkal, 2007

Cotto vs. Quintana

Cotto relinquished his title in late 2006 and announced his intention to move to the welterweight division to challenge Carlos Quintana for the WBA's championship. The fight took place on December 2, 2006. Cotto defeated Quintana by technical knockout in the fifth round. Following a punch to the body, Quintana surrendered prior to the start of the sixth round and Cotto won the vacant World Boxing Association Welterweight Championship. Cotto's Welterweight reign began successfully on March 3, 2007 when he retained his belt with a technical knock out victory in the eleventh round over Oktay Urkal. Urkal's corner threw in the towel because he was apparently down in the fight, and had just had a second point deducted for a head butt, leading to his corner's belief that the referee was unfair. On June 9, 2007, Cotto defended the WBA Welterweight Title against Zab Judah in New York City, performing before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden. The bout included a knockdown and a point deduction registered for Cotto, who established dominance on the offensive following a close start. At the moment of the stoppage,the judges had Cotto leading 97-91. Cotto won by technical knockout in the eleventh round when the referee stopped the fight.

Cotto vs. Mosley

Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley fought on November 10, 2007 at Madison Square Garden in a card made possible by a legal settlement between Top Rank Boxing, Cotto's promoter, and Mosley's promoter, Golden Boy Promotions. The fight was broadcast on HBO Pay-Per-View and was won by Cotto via unanimous decision. During the course of the fight Cotto pursued Mosley who was reacting in a slow fashion. Late in the fight Mosley displayed more aggression at one point becoming the aggressor. Cotto's performance was described as "a rare moment in sports when a sudden star rises from what is categorically termed as goodness, to the cusp of greatness." On April 12, 2008, Cotto successfully defended the championship against Alfonso Gómez. Throughout the fight Cotto scored three knockdowns before the fight was stopped following the fifth round, when the doctor indicated to the referee that Gómez couldn't continue. Cotto was selected the World Boxing Association's "Boxer of the Year", during the organization's annual award celebration, which took place in Buenos Aires.

Cotto vs. Margarito

On July 26, 2008, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Cotto suffered his first loss as a professional to Antonio Margarito in an unsuccessful title defense. Cotto had taken the early initiative, frequently landing a series of punches on Margarito during the early rounds while using his footwork to avoid danger. However, Margarito presented constant offensive pressure of Cotto and eventually began to wear down Cotto's resistance by trapping him against the ropes. Cotto was hurt in the seventh round after a pair of Margarito uppercuts caused his nose to bleed. Margarito continued to chase his opponent down and inflicted further damage towards the end of the tenth round. Margarito then threw a series of punches at the start of the eleventh round, with Cotto against the ropes and bleeding profusely. A combination from Margarito finally forced Cotto to his knee. He got up, but Margarito continued landing combinations. Evangelista Cotto threw in the towel after Cotto again fell to the canvas in the corner of the ring. Two judges had Margarito ahead by a score of 96–94 at the time of the stoppage, while the third scored the fight even. HBO analyst Harold Lederman had also scored the fight even. Cotto's loss to Margarito has since come under suspicion due to Margarito's subsequent attempted use of illegal hand-wraps in a fight against Shane Mosley.

Cotto vs. Jennings

Cotto returned to action on February 21, 2009, in a card held at the Madison Square Garden, sporting the first of his trademark tattoos which he has expanded on ever since. This time competing against Michael Jennings for the vacant WBO welterweight title. After both pugilists used the first round to study their opponent's style, the tempo accelerated during the second. In the third, Cotto pursued the offensive more fluidly, connecting with jabs and hooks. One round later, Cotto scored two knockdowns on Jennings, who was able to continue until the recess. In the fifth, Jennings was trapped against the ropes, which Cotto utilized to connect a right hook to score a third knockdown. Jennings incorporated, but the referee decided to stop the fight. With this action, Cotto was awarded a technical knockout victory, in the process winning his second championship in the welterweight division. On April 8, 2009, Cotto fired his uncle from the team's staff, following a violent discussion where his property was damaged. However, neither side expressed interest in pursuing any sort of legal action. Consequently, Cotto named Joe Santiago, who had served as the team's nutritionist as his new trainer.

Cotto vs. Clottey

On June 13, 2009, Cotto defended this championship against Joshua Clottey, in a fight that was originally intended to be an unification that also included the International Boxing Federation's title. In the first round he scored a knockdown after connecting a jab. In the third round an accidental head clash opened a severe laceration over Cotto's left eye. The injury bled profusely during the fourth round, but he was able to control the pace. In the fifth round, Clottey was pushed to the floor during an exchange and was injured in his left knee, receiving time to recover before the contest resumed. In the sixth, Cotto trapped Clottey in a corner and gained offensive advantage. During the next two rounds, Clottey controlled the offensive, noticing that Cotto was unable to see right punches. During the last rounds, Cotto decided to employ his technique from outside, while the fight's tempo remained close. The judges decided the fight's outcome by split decision, awarding scores of 115-112 and 116-111 for Cotto and 114-113 for Clottey.

Cotto vs. Pacquaio

Immediately after this fight, negotiations began to pursue a contest against Manny Pacquiao. Even before Pacquiao defeated Ricky Hatton, Bob Arum, who represents both Cotto and Pacquiao, stated that he was interested in this matchup. Subsequently, Pacquiao expressed interest in fighting Cotto. The fight was sanctioned as a world title fight in the welterweight division, where the weight limit is 147 pounds, however Cotto's camp agreed to fight at a catchweight of 145 pounds to accommodate Pacquiao's smaller physique. Cotto's camp also conceded the larger share of the purse to Pacquiao, who received a 65% share of pay-per-view buys, compared to Cotto's 35% share.

On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao defeated Cotto by TKO 55 seconds into the 12th round, dethroning Cotto as a WBO welterweight champion. The fight generated 1.25 million buys and 70 million dollars in domestic pay-per-view revenue, making it the most watched boxing event of 2009. Pacquiao earned around 22 million dollars for his part in the fight, whilst Cotto earned around 12 million dollars. Pacquiao-Cotto also generated a live gate of $8,847,550 from an official crowd of 15,930.

Light middleweight

Cotto vs. Foreman

After the Pacquiao fight, Cotto moved to the light middleweight division. On June 5, 2010, he fought against undefeated Israeli WBA Light Middleweight Champion Yuri Foreman at Yankee Stadium in New York City. Bob Arum had said that if Cotto were to win, he would become a frontrunner to defend the WBA belt against Manny Pacquiao in November. Cotto stated that he would consider a return to the welterweight division, in case of an interesting fight.

Cotto ended up knocking Foreman down with a signature left hook to the body in the ninth round, after Foreman tore his knee, Cotto, claiming the WBA Light Middleweight title, his fourth overall in three different weight divisions.

On March 12, 2011, Cotto defeated Ricardo Mayorga in a 12th round TKO, retaining his WBA Light Middleweight title on the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Cotto vs. Margarito II

On December 3, 2011, Cotto defeated Antonio Margarito via TKO in the 10th round. The fight was stopped at the start of the 10th round because of the condition of Margarito's right eye, which was swollen shut. This was the same eye that was badly damaged in his fight with Manny Pacquiao and the one that almost kept the New York State Athletic Commission from granting him his boxing license because of the special procedure that was performed on it in 2010.

Cotto vs. Mayweather Jr.

On May 5, 2012, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. faced Miguel Cotto for the WBA (Super) Light Middleweight/Super Welterweight belt. Mayweather came in at 151, while Cotto came in at 154 pounds. The fight started off with Cotto establishing himself as the fight's aggressor, but with Mayweather winning the first two rounds using effective counter-punching and body movement to block most of Cotto's punches. However, in the third round Cotto seemed to successfully swarm Mayweather and land decent flurries to steal himself the round. Then from rounds 4-9 the action was closely contested, with both fighters using their partially contrasting styles in attempts to one-up the other. Ultimately though, Mayweather managed to adjust to Cotto's new rhythm of attacking in flurries and used his now-newly tweaked counter-punching style to win a lot of the final rounds, in what people thought had secured Mayweather the decision victory. Cotto had Mayweather against the ropes many times, resulting in some damage and a lot of bleeding from Mayweather's nose. Cotto's eyes had some partial swelling. Mayweather won via unanimous decision. When they hugged at the end, Mayweather told Cotto, "You are a hell of a champion — the toughest guy I fought."

Cotto vs. Trout, Rodríguez

Cotto's next fight was on December 1, 2012, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. His opponent was the undefeated WBA Super Welterweight Champion Austin Trout. Cotto lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Cotto faced Delvin Rodríguez on October 5, 2013, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. Cotto looked like the Cotto of old, by displaying an aggressive style early on in the fight and landing powerful body shots. One punch in his arsenal that was brought back to life, was the vicious left hook which he was known for in his days of dominance in the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions. The second round saw Cotto landing body shots at will and with less than 10 seconds left in the round he staggered Rodriguez with a sharp left hook. In the beginning of the third round, with Rodriguez still feeling the effects of the left hook at the end of round two, Cotto forced Rodriguez in to the ropes landed a left hook to the temple, followed by flurry of punches which knocked Rodriguez onto the canvas. The referee then stopped the fight and gave Cotto a third-round TKO victory.

Middleweight

Cotto vs. Martinez

Cotto faced WBC, The Ring and lineal middleweight champion Sergio Martinez for the titles on June 7, 2014 in his first fight in the middleweight division at Madison Square Garden. It should be noted that Martinez was inactive for a year before this bout and had two separate surgeries performed on his right knee. Throughout the fight, journalists and fans alike, noticed Martinez was unable to bend, flex and support his own weight while moving in the ring. Martinez himself proclaimed that his knee had nothing to do with the outcome of the fight and his struggles were a result of a body shot. Cotto knocked Martinez down 3 times in the first round and once in the ninth round before Martinez retired on his stool before the tenth round, giving Cotto the win by ninth-round corner retirement. With the win, Cotto became the first Puerto Rican boxer to win world titles in four different weight classes.

Cotto vs. Geale

In April 2015, Roc Nation announced that Cotto would be making his first defence of his titles, after winning them nearly a year ago, against former unified middleweight champion Daniel Geale (31-3, 16 KOs) on June 6, 2015 at the Barclays Center in New York. After three one-sided rounds, Cotto knocked Geale out twice in the fourth round to retain his world titles. After the second knockdown, referee Harvey Dock asked Geale if he wanted to continue, in which Geale replied 'No', prompting Dock to wave off the fight half way through the round. Gennady Golovkin was in attendance. In the post fight interview, Cotto said Canelo is next and if Golovkin is available after that, he would fight him.

Cotto vs. Alvarez

Cotto lost to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on November 21, 2015 via unanimous decision. The fight was close throughout as both boxers were cautious in their attacks, neither fighter was seriously hurt. As Cotto attacked with a jab the whole fight, and didn't sit down on his punches, instead deciding to employ movement. Álvarez responded with power punches, landing especially to the body. Both fighters showed iron chins, with Cotto repeatedly coming back after hard shots to the head. The scorecards at the end of the night were highly controversial as they did not show the competitiveness of the fight, with many boxing pundits having Álvarez winning by a round or two, others called it a draw. There was a fraction of the boxing world that felt Cotto won by both a small margin, while others felt he won decisively. Cotto left immediately after hearing the scorecards, with his team and family.

Cotto did not attend the post-fight press conference, but Freddie Roach in his place stated that he believed his fighter won, by outscoring Canelo and blocking many of his shots. Cotto later told reporters in Puerto Rico that he felt he won.

WBC withdraws recognition of Cotto

On November 17, 2015 in the week leading up to his fight with Alvarez, the WBC announced that they were withdrawing recognition of Cotto as their Middleweight World Champion. The WBC's reasoning was "After several weeks of communications, countless attempts and good faith time extensions trying to preserve the fight as a WBC World Championship, Miguel Cotto and his promotion did not agree to comply with the WBC Rules & Regulations, while Canelo Alvarez has agreed to do so." This meant that, though Cotto was stripped of his title, Alvarez still had the opportunity to win the championship. Cotto then stated publicly that the reason the WBC stripped him of his title was because he refused to pay their sanctioning fees, which he believed to be excessive.

There were negotiations from January 2016 for a fight between Cotto and former four-weight division champion Juan Manuel Márquez. The main issue between both camps being the weight issue with Marquez looking to fight at no more than 147lbs and Cotto looking to fight at 155lb catchweight. Miguel Cotto Promotions told ESPN.com that negotiations had broke down on August 2 as both camps could not settle on what weight the fight would be at. Cotto still planning to return to the ring in December.

Return to light middleweight

Cotto vs. Kirkland

Miguel Cotto Promotions told RingTV.com that a deal had been finalized for Cotto's ring return on February 25, 2017 against veteran American boxer James Kirkland (32-2, 28 KOs) at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on HBO PPV. This would be Cotto's first fight since a decision loss to Canelo Alvarez in November 2015. It would also be Kirkland's first fight since May 2015 where he was knocked out by Alvarez. The contracts were signed and the fight was agreed on December 13, 2016 for an agreed catchweight of 153 pounds. The fight was postponed on February 2, after Kirkland cut his nose, this was later revealed as a fracture, eventually cancelling the card.

Cotto is married to Melissa Guzmán with whom he has three children, Luis, Alondra and Miguel Cotto III. Cotto has another daughter from a previous relationship, who was born in November 2006.

Still an active boxer, Cotto also owns and presides a boxing promotion named "Promociones Miguel Cotto", which organizes fight cards in Puerto Rico. Similarly he founded "El Ángel", a non-profit organization that promotes physical activity and measures against infant obesity. Marc Eckō, fashion designer and owner of Eckō Unltd., selected Cotto when promoting the brand within the sport, citing the boxer's "fearless" demeanor as one of the main reasons behind this agreement. As a product of this partnership, Eckō Unltd. produced boxing gear for him as well as mainstream clothing accessories for the general public.