5. Miguel Cotto
Photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) has an impressive resume and overall body of work in what surely will result in Hall of Fame induction. However, it doesn’t matter how drop dead gorgeous a woman is because somewhere there is a guy who is sick of her shit. While certainly no one would confuse Cotto with a woman, he plainly has displayed diva-like characteristics of late.
Perhaps this has been made more obvious due to his history as a no nonsense warrior.
Cotto is clearly enjoying the role of the “A-side” fighter that he earned by annexing the lineal middleweight championship from Sergio Martinez and is flexing his negotiating muscle as a result. Cotto as a middleweight champion has both fans and contenders alike salivating like a Rottweiler at a meat case. Potential blockbuster matches against Canelo Alvarez or a unification bout with Gennady Golovkin is everything that is right with boxing.
Rumor had it that we almost had Cotto vs. Alvarez on May 2, but Cotto waited too long in hopes of signing a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. While fans were disappointed, it would have made financial sense and was reluctantly given a pass expecting the blockbuster to be signed in the near future. Unable to put a solid agreement in place, Canelo filled his dance card while Cotto examined other appealing options.
Unfortunately, Cotto said that it didn’t make sense to make a fight with GGG as he hadn’t fought anyone of note and needed to build his resume. As a result fans waited almost a full year from Cotto winning the title for him to select Daniel Geale as an opponent.
This raised the ire of many boxing fans as the very opponent chosen by Cotto was destroyed in three rounds by the very middleweight deemed insufficient by the Puerto Rican star. Additionally, the conditions for Geale to get a shot were below the middleweight limit at a catch weight limit of 157 pounds.
Predictably, Cotto defeated Geale convincingly securing both a successful title defense and a payday. While not out of the doghouse yet, all will be forgotten should he come through with his originally suggested opponent in his next fight. Otherwise he can expect more pissed off fans, for the moment anyway.
