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| Cotto's comeback was worth the weight |
By Derek Bonnett — Boxing is about ups and downs. The rise of a great fighter is
something to behold. His progression through the ranks as a prospect
must endure great scrutiny as he responds to different styles, cuts,
knockdowns, and, possibly, early defeat. The boxer raises his game
to the next level and tops dangerous spoilers, former world
champs, and fellow contenders - all he has left to do is deliver on
that initial promise and become a world champion, right?
Wrong.
Boxing
is a highly complex sport filled with complicated rankings,
officiating, scoring, promotion, and expectation. Each time any given
prizefighter advances himself to the next level, the rules change.
Getting to the top is no longer the desired objective contrived by the
fans for their ring hero.
No, it's far more dramatic than that. You see,
boxing at its best often mirrors romantic comedy at its worst. Getting
the girl isn't enough. Losing her and getting her back, that's the real
story. With boxing, it's the rise, the fall, and the inevitable
comeback. Boxing loves to see its marquee losers comeback and win again.
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| There were doubts after Cotto's loss to Trout |
Boxing's
history is rich with comeback tales illustrating rematch revenge or a
return from retirement. These tales are as sweet as "Sugar" or as "Big"
as George Foreman himself. The 2014 boxing year produced a number of
fighters who mounted commendable comebacks, but no other return to
prominence impacted the sport as much a Miguel Cotto's
utter destruction
of reigning middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. If 2014 was a
year of rebirth for Cotto then 2012 was the year of his slow death.
Cotto entered the year on the heels of a gratifying rematch victory over
much maligned rival Antonio Margarito. For some, the win was more
fool's gold than ring substance, but it served exorcize a great demon
for the Puerto Rican star and set him up for the biggest fight of his
career. Cotto's 2012 challenge of Floyd Mayweather Jr. showed glimmers
of excellence. After all, fighting Mayweather somewhat close was the
equivalent to a moral victory in the eyes of many. Cotto lost without
question, but he made it interesting enough to live to fight another
day. Cotto followed that fight up with a risky challenge of Austin
Trout, a capable stylist still seeking to establish himself as something
more than just a divisional titlist. The fight, a back and forth
struggle which saw Trout sweeping the early rounds, surrendering the
middle, and cleaning up the final frames to earn a unanimous decision,
appeared to be a definitive nail in the coffin of Puerto Rico's last
superstar.
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| Roach was the key to Cotto's comeback |
When 2013 arrived Cotto's fate look certain:
he was a
fighter in decline. Even a new ring marriage to Freddie Roach appeared
as a last ditch effort to convince the boxing world that Cotto was still
viable world title threat. Even with Roach's proven track record, the
pairing seemed like a hired gun scenario much like Emmanuel Steward's
work with Julio Cesar Chavez. Roach became the much needed weapon to
combat the irrefutable fact that Cotto's primary weapons had waned in
their impact. The selection of Delvin Rodriguez as a comeback opponent
inspired two trains of though: Cotto had fallen so far he needed to meet
a fringe contender the level of Rodriguez in order to win and Cotto, at
his current state, was in deep against Rodriguez. Ten months after his
defeat to Trout, Cotto decimated Delvin Rodriguez in three rounds. Cotto
looked imposing inside of the ropes. He reminded some of the powerful
body assaulter of his youth. Some credited Roach while others credited a
ring-worn and seemingly overmatched and intimidated Rodriguez.
Once
again, nothing was certain, even the prospects of Cotto rising to
middleweight for a shot at the universally recognized champion Sergio
Martinez. Yet on June 7, 2014, Miguel Cotto challenged Martinez for the WBC middleweight championship of the world at Madison
Square Garden, Cotto's adopted home arena. Cotto fever was rampant, but
it was equally countered by Martinez support.
Regardless, the ease with
which Cotto dispatched Martinez was unanticipated.
Behind a short,
pumping jab, Cotto set up his right hand and produced three first round
knockdowns. The less mobile Martinez looked like the
clichéd sitting
duck against Cotto's bruising attack. Cotto took away Martinez strengths
by cutting the distance on him effectively and crowding him with power
shots. Martinez' legs could not carry him to safe harbor against this
raging "tiburon." Martinez kept his composure and survive the round, but
never found a way to avoid Cotto's left hook from the third round on.
The mid-rounds saw Cotto beating Martinez with his jab and forcing the
champion to fight off the ropes without his desired space. With hardly a
backward step in his road to victory, Cotto drained the will from a
champion once celebrated for that very attribute. After dipping toward
the canvas in the ninth, Martinez received another count from the
referee in spite of summoning the strength to keep his footing. The
referee's misjudgment proved elementary though as the accumulated
punishment absorbed by Martinez through nine rounds forced a tenth round
corner retirement.
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| Cotto made the best 2014 boxing comeback |
For Cotto, the cycle was completed. He lost the girl and won her back in stunning fashion or, in boxing terms,
his comeback to prominence in the sport of boxing was realized.
Regrettably, Cotto remained idle for the rest of 2014, which put him out
of contention for the more glorious Fighter of the Year honors.
However, Cotto, 34, arguably posted the most significant victory in the
boxing world this year. More importantly to the new middleweight
champion, he revitalized the spirit of Puerto Rican boxing, which had
atrophied greatly over the last several years. Cotto, 39-4 (32), now
eyes a potential Mexican-Puerto Rican showdown with Saul Alvarez likely
to be stage in May 2015. Prior to the Rodriguez fight, it was easy to
imagine this bout happening, but with Cotto playing the role of the
sacrificial lamb being served up to the younger star. Now, as KO
Digest's 2014 Comeback Fighter of the Year, Cotto enters a
"Canelo" bout with a far different public perception and role; he enters
as the champion.
Special recognition goes out to Rocky Juarez,
Cornelius Bundrage, and Jermain Taylor for also mounting laudable
comeback wins in 2014.
Photography by Jeffrey Freeman, KOD EIC
