Despite losing the final fight of his storied career at the weekend, Miguel Cotto can depart the scene with his head held high.
The Puerto Rican brawler never ducked a fight over the course of almost 50 professional bouts and despite coming up short against arguably his three biggest opponents - Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather and Saul Alvarez - his legacy will endure.
In a boxing world filled with padded records and stage-managed careers, Cotto’s rise to the top of his profession was done the old fashioned way - by beating the man next in line.
At one stage, he had built up a record of 32-0 which included handing Carlos Maussa, Kelson Pinto, Ricardo Torres, Paulie Malignaggi and Carlos Quintana their first professional losses.
He also holds notable victories over DeMarcus Corley, Zab Judah, Shane Mosley and Sergio Martinez although his stoppage of Antonio Margarito in their rematch will probably rank as his favourite.
Margarito handed Cotto his first loss in July 2008 in a blood-soaked affair which left him battered to a pulp in the eleventh round. Despite controlling the early rounds, Cotto began to fade as the Mexican’s heavy punches took their toll.
He took a knee mid-way through the eleventh round after a barrage of punches from Margarito before taking a second knee moments later, forcing his corner to throw in the towel.
As the unified welterweight champion, Margarito was hailed as boxing’s new superstar and bigger fights were to come on the horizon. However, just as he was about to walk to the ring to face Shane Mosley in his next fight, Margarito was found to have plaster of Paris, a hard substance, in his hand-wraps.
His hands were re-wrapped and he was duly stopped by Mosley in the ninth round. He was later suspended for one year by the California State Athletic Commission for attempting to fight with illegal wraps.
Although nothing can prove Margarito cheated against Cotto with loaded wraps - a photo taken moments after that win shows one of his wraps split over the knuckle.
A close-up of Antonio Margarito's left hand-wrap after he beat Miguel Cotto. Image: Youtube
Cotto would get a chance for revenge in 2011 and he went after the Mexican from the off. This time, Margarito’s punches had nowhere near the same effect on him and the bout was stopped in the 10th round due the damage accumulated on Margarito’s right eye.
Cotto would later go on to describe the win as “satisfying.”
Throughout his career, Cotto galvanised the Puerto Rican boxing community in New York and regularly filled Madison Square Garden.
Rarely in a dull fight, with his signature left hook to the body breaking many an opponent, he departs the sport as a four weight world champion having claimed titles at light-welterweight, welterweight, light-middleweight and middleweight.
Despite losing his last bout against Sadam Ali, when the dust settles on Miguel Cotto’s career, he should be remembered as one of the era’s best.
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