Miguel Cotto's comeback from a 12-round TKO loss to Manny Pacquiao is already in full swing. The former 140 and 147-pound champion is only days away from challenging for his fourth world title in his third weight class against WBA Jr. Middleweight champion Yuri Foreman. With famed trainer Emanuel Steward guiding his training, Cotto feels confident going into a bout where he faces many tough questions. Is he finished as an elite fighter? Has he moved past the memory of the allegedly plaster-enhanced beating he took from Antonio Margarito, as well as the sound drubbing he took at the hands of Manny Pacquiao? What does another loss mean for his career? Those are a few of the questions Miguel Cotto has faced in the lead up to this Saturday's title challenge with Foreman.
With the exception of a few rounds against Shane Mosley in 2008, Cotto has seldom been mentioned in the same sentence with the words "cautious fighter". In his fifth round TKO of DeMarcus Corley in 2005, he rallied on unsteady legs to put Corley away. Later that year, he was dropped in the second round against Ricardo Torres before mounting a furious comeback, in which he dropped Torres four times in seven back-and-forth rounds before the fight was stopped. In 2007, two big left uppercuts from Zab Judah opened large cuts in his mouth, forcing him to swallow blood until he scored the eleventh round TKO.
The fights which earned Cotto his reputation also brought big paydays and secured his future. Despite the many times he has been hurt and wobbled, he always found a way to make us overlook his technical flaws while watching him rally to score the victory. Whether by dominating knockout, or the skin of his teeth, Cotto managed to win. The same was expected when, in 2008, Antonio Margarito mounted his own Cotto-like comeback and began to force Cotto into a constant state of retreat. As Margarito shot painfully slow uppercuts and hooks in between and around Cotto's "earmuff" guard, the blood began to seep from his nose, eyes, mouth and ears. The Cotto comeback never came and the fight ended in the eleventh round after Cotto took a knee for the second time, signaling his surrender as the towel flew in from his corner. After Margarito's trainer was caught trying to insert plaster-coated gauze pads in his handwraps before his January 2009 loss to Shane Mosley, doubt was cast over the validity of his win over Cotto, and subsequently over the well-being of Cotto.
Cotto's future didn't look much brighter after he struggled to win a close, disputed decision over Joshua Clottey in another bloody war. That didn't stop many (including me) from erroneously picking him to beat Manny Pacquiao last November, however. The accumulated effects of all the rough and tumble affairs of nights long past may have played a part in Cotto's loss to Pacquiao, but it would be unfair to say indefinitely, as Pacquiao has cut a path of destruction through all of his opponents dating back to 2007.
In Yuri Foreman, a more accurate barometer by which to measure what is left in Cotto can be found. Foreman possesses above average skill in the ring, but lacks serious punching power. The amount of punishment that has been absorbed by Cotto was a focal point following his defeat to Pacquiao. While Cotto's boxing ability may be surpassed by that of Foreman, it is unlikely that he will absorb serious damage. That isn't to say Foreman can't land a punch that Cotto won't see and drop him, but the threat of danger does not loom as large as in previous fights for Cotto. While Foreman may prove to be a stylistic nightmare for Cotto, it would not be the first time Cotto has been matched against a taller fighter with a significant reach advantage. Cotto's relentless body attack and willingness to take a little to give a lot has seen him through to victory in the past. He and Steward insist they are training to be smarter and better technically, while still employing some of the same tactics that have worked so well in the past. "We are going to do what we have to do to break down Yuri, but not get out of position," Steward commented.
In the short time Steward has worked with Cotto, he has recognized the positives in him and has made it clear he has worked to correct some of the flaws in Cotto's game. "I was very surprised in the first two days because his balance was so bad and his feet were spread so far apart and his head was down and he wasn't throwing combinations, just one punch at a time," Steward said in a recent conference call. "I made him just drop his hands and dance back and forth with his weight evenly balanced and he caught onto it and from that point on, he went to a whole other level."
Steward has worked with many champions throughout his career. He has achieved success with the greats like Tommy Hearns, Lennox Lewis, and Wladimir Klitschko, but has fallen short with the likes of John Duddy and Kermit Cintron. Miguel Cotto hired Emanuel Steward because he listened to the criticisms and realized he needed a change for the better if he was to move on and write a positive final act to his storied career. If a reputedly headstrong Miguel Cotto shows to have been positively affected by Steward's teachings, he may very well wake up on Sunday morning having been crowned the new WBA Jr. Middleweight champion and faced with a bright (albeit short) future as a fighter. If irreparable damage truly has been done, the signs will be evident. In the event of an ugly loss, the future of the once-great champion will look uncertain, and his final act may very well be cut short.