Tag: Junior Middleweight

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

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After suffering consecutive losses to Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Austin Trout, Cotto faced questions regarding how much he had left, and, perhaps more important, just how much he wanted to give. Trainer Pedro Diaz was given his walking papers, replaced by A-lister Freddie Roach, who, like Cotto, has watched his own heyday disappear in the rearview mirror. The marriage of the offensive-minded Roach and the shopworn Cotto has injected some life into the fighter’s twilight run. After Manny Pacquiao ran him through a wood-chipper in 2009, Cotto, Caguas, Puerto Rico, become increasingly reliant on his boxing skills to win fights, tempering the ferocity that typified his destructive craft with some cuter tricks. Was there a seance or two, maybe some dark hours with a Ouija board to go with the mitt work to help conjure up Cotto’s past as he prepared for Rodriguez? Whatever tactics Roach employed, they worked. Roach wanted Cotto to fight. Cotto fought, and Rodriguez suffered the consequences.

Rolling Thunder: Miguel Cotto TKO3 Delvin Rodriguez on The Cruelest Sport.

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

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“Prevailing wisdom said Austin Trout would be hard-pressed to win a decision over Miguel Cotto in the hostile confines of Madison Square Garden. Apotheosized by the devoted legion who churn turnstiles in support of Puerto Rico’s most recent fighting idol, Cotto could expect to complement his fistic repertoire with a legitimate home-field advantage. Trout accepted the challenge and the role of challenger (he was introduced first despite putting his WBA chewed leather cummerbund on the line), and with an impressive blend of brains and brawn, reduced a tall order to a simple task, winning a lopsided unanimous decision by scores of 119-109 and 117-111 (twice).”

Read Trophy Kill: Austin Trout W12 Miguel Cotto on The Cruelest Sport.