Boricua three divisional world champion Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28KOs) of Caguas, PR, 
jumped back into the win column after his
some what bizarre TKO over previously undefeated Yuri Foreman (28-1, 8KOs) last Saturday night from Yankee Stadium in New York City. The historic bout was for Foreman’s WBA jr. middleweight which now Cotto has added to his collection of titles. Under the tutelage of his new trainer Emmanuel Stewart, some believe that Cotto looked sharper and more like the Cotto of the jr. welterweight division while others have stated that he was hit too often by the rabbi in practice Foreman and because of that, there might not be much left in the twenty nine year old Cotto tank.
Regardless, here is my list in order of who I believe Cotto should face next. Cotto is not favored to win all these potential match ups but in my opinion these would be his opportunity to earn the biggest paydays in what seems to be the twilight of his career.
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25KOs) Yes, I know that we are all hoping that a Mayweather-Pacquiao mega fight happens in the fall but with “Money” threatening to take a couple of years off (in my opinion, his latest ploy to avoid a bout versus the Filipino sensation), Mayweather is running out of credible opponents he can charge PPV money to face off with. Although I believe that Mayweather would be too much for the Puerto Rican in either 147 lbs. or at 154 lbs., Cotto can still be a fighter that the boxing public can relunctlanty stand behind as a Mayweather opponent in case the contest against Pacuqiao does not materialize. With the rumours that Mayweather is considering another break from boxing, that might very well be the case. All in all, if this fight would to come to fruition and with Cotto undoubtely losing, the Boricua could ride into the sunset with the biggest payday of his career.
2. Andre Berto (26-0, 20KOs) There is whisperings that offering is being considered in the halls of HBO with the current WBC welterweight champion Berto moving up to jr. middleweight to challenge for the WBA belt. With Berto facing up to this point mostly B level opposition, having a Miguel Cotto among his victims would not only give a boost to the young man’s confidence but also to his credibility as a champion. With Cotto’s skills visibly diminishing to an extent after his two wars with Margarito and Pacquiao, Berto should have more than a betting chance to defeat Cotto but you can never underestimate wizened veteran.
3. Kermit Cintron (32-3-1, 28KOs) This is a bout I would like to see for the simple reason of Cotto winning the bout in a very convincing way. Despite the fact that Cintron can not be counted out, the former IBF welterweight champion is not at the level of Cotto. With some of Cintron’s more recent fights ending in controversy (Martinez, Paul Williams), a bout against Cotto will give Cintron the opportunity to redeem himself and also raise his profile to his Puerto Rican people by going against the heir apparent of Tito Trinidad. Despite the fact Cintron is a hard hitting athletic fighter, his heart, a commodity that Cotto has an abundance of which he proved in his bouts versus Margarito and Pacquiao, will come into question once again when Cotto starts pressuring him and attacks his body.
4. Sergio Martinez (45-2-2, 24KOs) In what would be an entertaining 154 lbs. title unifying bout, Cotto would come up short against the two belt holding “Maravilla” but it would still be an entertaining bout in which both fighters can showcase their skills with Cotto being the aggressor while Martinez the boxer. Even though Martinez is the older of the two, he would look the fresher and his high output and quick mobility style will be to much for Cotto to decipher to walk away with the victory.
5. Alfredo Angulo (18-1, 15KOs) This fight might be to quick in Angulo’s career to materialize but at this point I believe it is a toss up. Angulo, whose style is considered a lighter version of Margarito’s, has trouble with mobile fighters who know how to box as seen in his fight against Cintron and the first half versus Joel Julio. In Cotto he will face off against a fairly hard hitting accurate puncher who will not be afraid to mix it up. With Angulo having half of the fights despite being only two years younger than Cotto, he comes off as the fresher of the two which might make a difference in the latter half of the fight.
Anyone of those fights would be good. I dont know about martinez, He might be too big and athletic for cotto. I can see a fight with mayweather but if cotto cant get past floyds defence and he just follows him around the ring staing at the end of his jab,It will be a long night for cotto with a disappointing end. He would have to force exchanges and hope to catch floyd slipping.
Chavez thinks he’s a bad ass now because he beat Duddy and has now challenged Cotto. Not a good idea. Then again, loosing might be a blessing in disguise. I would bet on Cotto.
would love to see cotto v cintron, would do wonders for cotto’s confidence
@jay very well put.
I agree with u myboxingfan
I think Cotto should go for Margarito. To end all of this. This time there will be no more doubts on the result that if he can really win over Margarito or not.
Hey, M. Mafia
I’ll tell you where it came from. After moselys trainer got into it with margarito and the commetion people. He took the thing that fell out of margaritos Wraps back to moselys dressing room. There was a doctor in the room who saw the stuff in question. The doctor him self scratched the surface and said it flaked like plaster, He then said its just like the plaster we make casts out of (we meaning doctors). It dont matter what the compostion of the material is what matters is that it dosent belong in the glove period. And the fact that margarito didnt hurt his hands with that stuff isnt a defence. the wet PLASTER would take the shape of his hands and harden almost like brass nuckles. That wont hurt you but it will hurt the other guy for sure. Regardless of what the substance is its still CHEATING. I dont care if it was a bunch of marshmellows they dont belong there. what makes it worse is that he tried to play stupid what an A-whole. And those are the facts my friend. I know its disappointing to you that he cheated, but he didnt just disappoint you he disappointed all of us.
@MexicanMafia
That was my whole point just in different words. You can’t blame people for justifying a tough lose to their favorites.
You guys are blinded by the media frenzy~>….. where did plaster come from????
From what I know it was a substance on a “pad”! yeah they said that substance was part of the combination for making plaster!… but where did the plaster brick come from?? or that if it breaks it releases a red color ??? LOL i’m not discarting the color fact but plaster?? ok where are margarito damaged knuckles from that plaster?…
I’ve given my toughts on valid facts not on media frenzy!! all these time trying to open up peoples eyes~!!! but i’m not gonna do it here cause it will end in the same outcome!!…
lol @jay and jesus.. hey maybe we can get camacho and chavez in there one more time lol these people dont wanna retire lol
@ bori_4_life and Jay,
I truly respect your opinions. Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t condone what Margarito did at all. I’m glad he got caught and punished. I hope he learned his lesson.
Some of my favorite fighters are from the island of enchantment. Tito Trinidad, Wilfredo Gomez, and Carlos Ortiz. What’s up with Hector Camacho Sr. though ?? Tell him to retire already so he can get into the Hall of fame.
I think cottos next fight should be a smart one. If he wants to get payed and retire, fight mayweathers bitch ass. I would luv to see him win a rematch with margacheato. A fight with andrey berto sounds good too, or angulo. He just needs to make sure hes 100% for his next test. cotto has all the heart in the world, but when you get older and you have been in tough fights like he has you need to learn to fight smarter not harder. just ask b-hops old ass lol. cottos not that old but hes had a couple tough loses. sometimes he has to much heart for his own good. typical puerto rican lol
I hear you boricua, pain adds to fatiuge. As the rounds go on that plaster gets harder. Its no surprise that cotto would run out of gas, by the 6th or 7th round those wraps would be rock hard by then. fighters of the calaber we’re talking about dont get spent in 6 rds unless your getting your ass beat and I think the whole world can agree that up until the 7th cotto was the one doing all the ass beating. Jesus I cant say that cotto not getting the k.o. really means anything, this is where boricuas point comes in. the pain + fatiuge that cotto would be feeling at that point in the fight could keep any fighter from lefting his arms never mind getting a K.o.. Margarito is a good fighter and if he had a better game plan than just following cotto around the ring maybe he could have won the fight lagit. margarito got out classed and then the plaster toke over. Im still not sure cotto is the same guy he was before that fight, but if they were to get it on again and they fight the same way they fought that night with out the plaster of coures. cotto would win. who knows if there was no plaster, maybe cotto could have gottin the k.o.
@jesus. my opinion on that and i would say its a strong one that as your getting hit with loaded gloves it tends to take energy away as also take away power. i understand margareto could take a punch but im more than positive mosley in power dont compare with cotto. mosley was able to take margarito out because from the start mosley wasnt getting hit with bricks so he had all his energy and power. i guarantee if mosley was getting hit with bricks—mosleys punches would not be that affective. thats what happened with cotto. i dont know thats just my take on that. i do know bricks hurt. and if im getting hit with some damm sure im gonna fight with fear and feel powerless at the same time. @@JAY i agree
@ bori_4_life
I agree that when plaster breaks it turns red. That can be proven easily. That wasn’t the issue I brought up. Credit to you on your research. I’m glad you do your homework. Many people who comment do not.
Cotto hit Margarito with power shots over and over that would have dropped most fighters. Do you have any logical explanation on whay that didn’t happen ? I was being sarcastic when I asked if he had plaster on his chin as well. What’s your take on that ? I’m interested in your theory. I simply think Margarito can take a punch. Does that sound logical ? Max Kellerman said it best. “Cotto was hitting a brick wall that just kept closing in on him.” Now about him not caring where he lands punches in just an assumption. No research there, sorry.
Anyway, I agree that plaster or anything else illegal should NOT be allowed in boxing. Fighters, trainers and everybody involved should be punished.
@Jay,
I agree that Paul Williams is not a good option right now. I insist Cotto needs to stay at 147 lbs. First couple of rounds of the Foreman fight were not what I am used to seeing from Cotto. No combinations, breathing out his mouthpiece. I think the extra weight had something to do with it. Maybe. No matter what happens, good luck to him.
boricua got it right. im puerto rican and if cotto did what margarito did i would say he shouldnt be alowed to box either. it has nothing to do with him being mexican, thats just stupid. margarito is a disgrace and he should be ashamed, every boxer knows what is on his hands.
cant agree on cotto fighting williams though at least not yet. I got to say that I think paul williams is over rated, I think he lost that fight with martinez. dont get me wrong its not that cotto cant beat williams, I just think it would be a very akward fight for cotto cuz of his stature.
OHH AND BY THE WAY MOSLEYS CORNER DIDNT SEE IT NEITHER DID THE COMMISION. MOSLEYS CORNER ORDERED THEM TO UNWRAPPED. WHEN MARGACHETOS CORNER SAID NO MOSLEYS CORNER DECIDED THAT IF THEY DIDNT THEY WERE GOIN TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION. WHEN THEY UNWRAPPED THE HAND WRAPS THATS WHEN THE PLASTER FELL. THEY TRIED TO HIDE IT BUT MOSLEYS CORNER PICKED IT UP. THATS HOW HE GOT CAUGHT.
@jesus. what would leak red into ur hand wraps afetr a fight????? can u explain that?? it was said that when the plaster breaks it leaks a reddish liquid.. like i said read into it. dont just take my word on it. see when i comment on something i read about it alot before i talk. tyson took a bite in the heat of the moment while margacheto knew he was gonna go into a fight with bricks in his hands and fight 12 rounds with them on. he swang away and im sorry if you look at the fight carefully didnt even look like margacheto was swinging hard. he was just throwing punches didnt care where he connected because he knew what was on his wraps. (NOW IF A FIGHTER IS GETTING HIT WITH BRICKS I THINK HIS ENERGY WILL START GOIN DOWN AND HIS MOMENTUM. YOU THINK COTTO DIDNT LOOSE POWER WITH EVERY PUNCH HE FELT FROM MARGACHETO. DO YOU ACTUALLY THINK IF MARGACHETO DIDNT GET CAUGHT THE MOSLEY FIGHT WOULD HAD HAVE THE SAME OUTCOME?? REMEMBER MOSLEYS TRAINER SAID HE SAW SOMETHING IN THE COTTO FIGHT AND HE WENT WITH HIS GUT FEELING AND HE WAS RIGHT…..
@bori_4_life
I agree weed and bricks are two different things. This isn’t rocket science. My point was that Tyson purposely caused the injury to Holyfield. He got fined and served his suspension. Margarito has served his suspansion and is waiting for his license can be reinstated in the USA.
Another thing, you want us to believe that having red on your wraps proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that their was plaster there and there is no other possible explanation ?? I don’t recall that ever proven or even investigated being that it is a very serious issue. You are now implying that the Nevada Athletic Commision and Cotto’s corner couldn’t see what Mosley’s trainer saw during the wrapping. Cotto hit Margarito with EVERYTHING he had in his arsenal and couldn’t stop him. Did he have plaster on his chin too ?? You have to admit that anybody else would have gone down from those hard punches, even Pacquiao . It just wasn’t Cotto night that night.
One thing I do agree with is that we shoudn’t make this racial. There is no room for that here.
hey jesus you are comparing weed with bricks??? a bite in the ear wich is something that happened in the spark of the moment to beating somebody down with bricks??? look at the after pics of the cotto margarito fight and look at the color of margachetos wraps.. did you or mr.mexico ever see it?? it was a reddish color.. thats the color of the plaster after it breaks…. ummm after it breaksss… look it up dont take my word for it. before the cotto vs pacman fight they showed it. so no weed wont help u win a fight but bricks will. so mr. mexico lets not talk about boricuas or any other race. lets keep it boxing. im puertorican and in any of my comments i spoke or commented anything bad or negative about mexicans. some of the greatest boxing warriors came from there. lets keep this clean. dont make this a garbage forum on race wars.
hey mr. mexicomafia you wants to get into these facts so lets do it. first of all yea we loose against mexico uhuu and?? we also loose against other countries thats what happens when you have alot of boxers in such a small island. margacheto is a cheater and everybody knows it. only people protecting that piece of shhheeettt are mexicans. (not all mexicans). he got cought using plaster against mosley and he didnt know?????? bullsheeeetttt!!! he has been doing it for a while and if you wanna be blind about it so be it but dont start talking sheet that we ricans always looking for excuses. this fight with cotto and margacheto all we did was look at facts. it was impossible for something like that to happen especially after cotto was rocking him with clean shots. as cotto got hit with bricks cottos punches were getting weak thats why cotto wasnt able to knock him out. mosley knocked him out because he wasnt getting him with bricks.
MexicanMafia2010- is not accusations dummie!!!! Cotto benn fighting for a while now and never been out for 6 months for recovery after the margarito fight… Get your facts straight! Margarito dont deserve a rematch but id love to see that fight so he proves he is better with no blocks in the gloves!!!! Chump!!!!
@ MexicanMafia2010
I agree. As we all know, there has always been a BIG rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico can’t stand to loose to Mexico because they loose badly when they do. I’m not talking sh*t. I’m not suprised that they always look for an excuse on why they lost. They make it seem now that all the Margarito victories have come to be by cheating of some sort. We need to get over it. Greg Haugen beat Hector Camacho and Mike Tyson beat Andrew Golota but both times the winners tested positive por marijuana. Are we to say that the marijuana attributed to the victory ?? Both fights were then declared as ‘no contest’. We need to get over Margarito for what happened. We forgave Tyson for bitting Holyfield’s ear and he kept on fighting and he never did that again. Whether Margarito knew about the plaster is irrelevant now. One thing for sure is that he will never do it again. Just like Tyson didn’t bite anyone else.
Anyway I insist Cotto stay at 147 lbs. He has no business fighting at 154 lbs.
Alright i was trying to hold down on talking shit but i got no choice…
First off let’s back track a minute, when margarito beat cotto, right away a puerto rican radio started announcing margarito was on steroids and people talking shit specially cotto fans and puerto ricans of course (which 1 or 2 weeks later was proven wrong with tests), then the margarito vs mosley controversy happens!, and there go all cotto fans and puerto ricans again talking shit that he used it in the cotto fight and people that don’t keep track of boxing thinking that the pad was discovered in the cotto fight and not the mosley! (Pathetic!), And last not least, there we go now with an extra year lay off????? WTF???? ok it’s time to stop all this bullshit talk men, specially cotto fans gotta stop this shit!! 2 weeks from now people are gonna start talking of an extra year lay off for margarito!.
PLS do not make this forum a garbage forum like ESPN’s or Youtubes!
and that goes for you too ” bori_4_life and EZ-E!!
well i like and dont like the cotto vs margacheto 2. i still think he shouldnt be allowed to box anymore. if i have to pick a fighter for cotto in the 154 it would be paul williams. for the simple fact that pauls chin has been exposed and his stamina. cintron rocked him and i still think by the score cards cintron won that fight. i think cotto could even get a ko on him. william has been very sloppy lately and a win over williams would be huge for cotto. i dont think margarito would be allowed to fight this year in the states. they have been giving him a hard time (more like i dont think they want him back). of course i can be wrong. angulo would be nice but id like angulo and martines winner faces the winner of cotto and williams. i wouldnt count cintron out either. he belongs in there. he prooved speed and stamina when he beat angulo and he showed skills when he was robbed against williams. WHAT YOU GUYS THINK
@Marco,
I don’t think fighting Angulo is an option. Cotto can still make 147 lbs and that’s where the money is. No sense in fighting at 154 lbs.
It would be nice for Mexicali to have a world champ in Angulo. I had fun watching Maromero Paez.
@Ez E,hey bro,It’s only one year suspension
Why are you adding one more year.Do you work with commission by any chance !!
Please get your facts together before making a statement because you are deluding the boxing fans .
if I am mistaking ,I do apologize ,but please buttress your statement with something substantial in order for me to believe it.
I agree with Jesus in this one too
Regards
As a (Cachanilla) I would like to see him fight Angulo so, Mexicali can have another world champion. I think Angulo would finish Cotto in the late rounds. Cotto still weakens as the fights progress, while Angulo seems to wear his opponents down and finish them, but that’s me being selfish. Cotto should fight Money May an cash in another fat check while he’s on top.
@EZ,
Margarito got a one year suspension which he has served. I don’t get where ” two full years ” comes from. Is it an extra year to go through the red tape ? I really don’t know how that works.
Anyway, Margarito is a good fight. If Cotto wants to be back with the big boys, he needs to beat Margarito. I would also rematch him with Clottey.
Anyone of those fight would be big money fights and good fights to watch!
How about a tournament just like the Super Middle Weights?????????
I would like to see a Cotto vs Angulo ….. Or Margarito 2
Mafia It’s very likely that Margo will have to wait out the TWO full years before the strong CSAC revalidates his licence. So… that just about eliminates him as a near future opponent for Cotto, not that Cotto is actually interested giving him another big payday.
Another name that was mentioned as a possible future Cotto opponent by the Bobfather himself was J.C. Cavez Jr. If he gets by Duddy… who knows?? But.. I doubt it.
Wheres margarito?
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