Right from the start, Cotto has fought and defeated former world title contenders like Rocky Martinez, John Brown, Demetrio Ceballos, Victoriano Sosa, Lovemore N’dou, Cesar Bazan & Justin Juuko.
Cotto had a total of 7 championship fights at 140lbs, and after claiming the 140lb world championship, Cotto defended the crown a total of 6 times against the likes of DeMarcus Corley, Ricardo Torres & Paul Malignaggi. It’s worth nothing that both Torres and Malignaggi were undefeated at the time yet they both came back to claim world championships.
In 2006, Cotto then took on the highly skilled Carlos Quintana at 147lbs in a fight where many thought Cotto would lose. Cotto prevailed by retiring Quintanna in the 5th round. Once again, Quintanna was an undefeated fighter who came back to claim a world championship against the highly rated Paul Williams.
Cotto then had a further 8 championship fights at 147lbs where he successfully defended his title until his highly controversial fight with Margarito. In this time, Cotto beat the likes of former undisputed welterweight champ Zab Judah & all-time great Shane Mosley. It’s worth noting that Mosley came back from the loss to dominate Margarito. Similarly, Judah had given Mayweather a competitive fight the year before losing to Miguel Cotto.
On a recent note, Cotto claimed the WBO 147lb championship and defended it against the highly underrated Joshua Clottey. This lead to a fight with the all-time great Pacquiao, a fight in which Cotto was able to make competitive for the first few rounds until Pacquiao eventually took control from the mid rounds after Cotto sustained heavy knockdowns.
In summary, Cotto has had a total of 16 world championship fights. He was the WBO world champion at 140lbs and the WBA champion at 147lbs . After his controversial loss to Margarito, he claimed the WBO 147lb championship making him a three-time world champion in two weight divisions. It’s worth noting that Cotto would have been unified welterweight champion after beating Clottey but Clottey had to vacate his title. Cotto has beat something like 10 former world champions and he may next fight Foreman at 154lbs with a view to becoming a three-weight champion.
In contrast, Ricky Hatton has had a much softer start compared to Miguel Cotto. It was Hatton’s 21st professional fight before he fought a half-decent domestic level fighter like Jon Thaxton. This was the fight in which Hatton claimed the vacant British welterweight title. In Hatton’s very next fight he claimed the WBU title. Note, the WBU is not a recognized world championship. From 2000 to 2004, Hatton defended the WBU title. Apart from a couple of half-decent names like Vince Phillips, it was in 2005 when Hatton eventually challenged for a world championship. This was 8 years after he turned pro where he beat Kostya Tszyu. Hatton then defended against Carlos Maussa before moving to 147lbs. Note, Cotto had already beaten Maussa a couple of years prior.
In 2006, Hatton moved to 147lbs where he took on Luis Collazo in a fight where Hatton was out on his feet in the final round in what was a very close fight. Despite promising Collazo a rematch in England, Hatton moved back to 140lbs and had a further two fights at the weight against Urango and Castillo.
It was in 2007 when Hatton took on the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. This ended in a 10th round TKO victory for Mayweather Jr. It was a fight where it was clear to see that Hatton struggled with the step up in class and at the time of the stoppage, two of the three judges had Hatton 81-89 behind.
Hatton bounced back with a solid win over Paul Malignaggi before taking on all-time great Pacquiao. Once again, Hatton clearly struggled with the step up in class and this was a fight in which Hatton was brutally destroyed within 2 rounds.
In summary, Hatton claimed the 140lb world championship in 2005. He defended it against Maussa before moving to 147lbs to become a two-weight champion. After his knockout defeat to Mayweather Jr., Hatton reclaimed the 140lb world championship and defended it twice before taking on Manny Pacquiao. Hatton had a total of 5 championship fights, excluding the IBO and WBU as recognized world championships.
To conclude, Miguel Cotto’s career has been far superior to that of Ricky Hatton’s and although Hatton should be considered one of the better fighters of this era, Cotto, on the contrary, should be considered one of the greats of the modern era.
