Austin Trout Defeats Miguel Cotto via Unanimous Decision

Before the fight Saturday night Austin “no doubt” Trout (26-0) stated that he didn’t want to be an unknown fighter. Trout got his wish early Sunday morning when he walked out of the Madison Square Garden with his welterweight belt still in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Trout won a very lopsided unanimous decision in front of a very pro Cotto crowd of 13,096 raucous fans. The ringside judges scored in favor of Trout 117-111 twice and 119-109. While the decision was not a shocking or wrong in my opinion the scores seemed to be a bit of a stretch. Cotto after the fight stated as such ” too far (scores) to (of) what I bring” While Cotto may have not agreed with the scores he never went as far as saying he felt he won the fight as well, other than saying he was disappointed in the decision.

While Cotto may be disappointed in the outcome of the fight, Trout was a gracious and humble champion speaking of his win over the ex champion, “to beat him (Cotto) is a an honor” Trout said at the press conference. When asked how he felt about rounds being close, Trout admitted he thought some rounds were close but never felt Cotto won. Trout even said that “if there is any doubt I won or not, I’m all up to doing it again.”

While a rematch may be too soon to think about right now, Cotto admitted he will take some time during Christmas and come back afterwards and move forward with his career. A career that was moving toward a fight with Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez; that may not be in the cards as Goldenboy, Canelo and Cotto had planned. However with Cotto’s name power, don’t be shocked if the Canelo-Cotto fight still happens. Cotto has fought the top names in boxing over the last few years and Cotto admitted he still had boxing left in him, expect him to be in the conversations with any of the big names, Canelo, Pacquiao, Mayweather and Martinez. Loss or not.

As for Trout, well he got his wish of not being an unknown fighter anymore. While he may have won the fight, the question now is- Do boxing fans care to see him in the ring with any of the big names? Trout admitted he wanted to clean out 154lb division and the next belt he is looking at is the WBC strap, the belt that happens to be held by Canelo Alvarez. As Trout mentioned, that would be his “dream scenario”.

Goldenboy has some thinking to do. They plan on Canelo fighting May 5th but once again Alavarez is without a partner. A curse that many are calling being “caneloed” or the “curse of Canelo” as Alvarez was in attendance for the Trout-Cotto fight, just as he was in attendance for the Ortiz-Lopez fight. Once again his expected opponent lost. Goldenboy moved and replaced Ortiz with Lopez and Canelo destroyed Lopez in 5 rounds. Will Goldenboy once again put the winner in with Canelo?

Trout now has Al Haymon on his team and it’s hard not to argue that Trout at least deserving a look. The attendance was 13,096 which is not a bad turnout but as one colleague said,”this is Cotto, he is Madison Square Garden” many including myself figured Cotto fans would sell the arena out. That may be a tipping point if they look at Trout and other than a belt, what does Trout bring to the table? However, If Canelo can pretty much sell out MGM Grand Garden fighting Josesito Lopez, Trout shouldn’t be a tough sell, especially since Goldenboy won’t be sharing the same city for Mexican fight fans as they did in September, add the loyal New Mexico fan base and Trout gets more and more viable.

No matter if Trout gets the call May 5th or not, Trout is a welcomed addition to up and coming superstars. Trout can add his name to Mares, Broner and Guerrero. While the Cotto loss may be bittersweet, it’s always hard to see a fighter such as Cotto lose,but it’s also refreshing to see new stars reach the next level. Trout reached that level Saturday night and as he admitted “this is when the hard work begins” boxing fans have a new fighter to cheer for.

And then…

Many fans in the arena were complaining about the poor undercard bouts and they had a right to be disappointed. Other than Daniel Jacobs second comeback fight, the undercard fights were mismatches. It may be part of the reason the arena was not full until the main event.

Condolences to Kasandra M. Perkins family. While the facts are still being sorted out of what and why a Kansas City Chiefs player killed his girlfriend and then himself, I have yet to see much being written about her. By no means does Jovan Belcher not deserve mention and R.I.P. but a murder suicide is hard to overlook. Whatever the case was, I hope both families find the strength to pull through this and raise the daughter that was left behind.