On Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, Miguel Cotto (37-4, 30 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, returns to the ring against the always tough Delvin Rodriguez (28-6-3, 16 KOs), from Danbury, Connecticut, by way of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.
Win, lose, or draw, the much loved former three-division world champion has remained dignified throughout. Cotto is a man of few words. He lets his fists do the talking, and those fists have spoken volumes about his character and heart.
But at age 32, in his 12th year fighting professionally, having lost his last two fights by decision, to Floyd Mayweather in May 2012 and Austin Trout seven months later, some have asked how much Cotto has left, and how wise it is for him to continue in what used to be called a young man?s sport.
There is no one Cotto hasn?t fought. There was never a fight when failed to perform. But he is a warrior through and through and has been in several wars. If Delvin Rodriguez?s history is any guide, he can expect another do-or-die battle Saturday night on HBO World Championship Boxing.
Having returned to Top Rank after a flirtation with independence, which let the fights with Mayweather and Trout materialize, he has in a sense returned to the fold and is working with Top Rank?s esteemed boxologist, Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach.
On a recent teleconference call, the man of few words was true to form. He said, ?I feel that I can fight against the best at any time. I just made the fight with Mayweather last year. I made that fight. I fought that fight and then I fight the next fight. There are no possibilities beyond this fight to think about. The only possibility I have right now is to fight Delvin Rodriguez on October 5 in Orlando. At this moment, for this fight, I feel good. After Delvin we can talk about what is next in my career.?
Roach was more talkative than his newest charge
?We are in a must-win situation,? he said. ?We are working real hard and we know what the situation is. I watched the Trout fight and we talked about why he thought he lost that fight. He thought he wasn?t busy enough and I want to bring back that work to the body?his bread and butter. That?s what got him to where he is today.?
Freddie doesn?t build fighters from scratch. His work is remedial. He studies the fighters he works with, who are usually seasoned pros, and burnishes their lustrous skills.
?I am not going to change people,? said Roach. ?I don?t believe in changing people. We are what we are and it?s pretty much when he was at his best, it was the fundamentals of boxing which he excelled at and he had gotten away from the body attack a little bit and we got that back in line. I want to bring back the best of Miguel Cotto?lefts to the body then to the head and efficient combinations and breaking his opponent down. That?s where we want to get to. I am just trying to remind him of what worked best and to use it more. He knows how to do it. He had just gotten away from it a little bit. It is really just a reminder of what works best. It is there naturally. It is part of his mechanics. It?s just fundamentals.?
Fundamentally, Cotto is a finer fighter than he is boxer, and his willingness to mix it up, however exciting, sometimes works to his detriment.
?When I trained Manny for [the fight with Cotto] the biggest thing was to stay off the ropes because if you go on the ropes, Miguel is going to hit you with the left hook to the body and that was something we had to stay away from. That was the biggest thing we worked on in camp. Miguel would sometimes get a little lazy with his punches. He has great speed with his punches so we have been working on that and it?s been working quite well.
?I talked to Manny about it a little bit because Manny asked me if he could watch Miguel work out and I said ?of course you can.? So Manny came to watch. They shook hands and they are friends. Manny and Miguel will never fight each other. They have had their fight and it?s over. Once Manny becomes friends with someone he will never fight them. I guarantee you that.?
Cotto is getting the lion?s share of attention preceding this bout, which makes sense since he?s the lion sharing the stage with Rodriguez. Rodriguez may not be world class, but he is no slouch, and there?s simply no quit in Delvin Rodriguez.
But he is stepping up. He?s a year older than Cotto, but perhaps less shopworn than Cotto, and has advantages in height and reach.
?I?m taller,? he said, ?so it works for me to stay on the outside and keep Cotto on the end of my punches. I?ve got a longer reach which I intend to use. It?s also important for me to use combinations in an effective manner. Keep the pressure, stay aggressive for the entire round, and that?s where my conditioning will play a big role.
?I?ve got nothing but respect for Miguel. Our paths have crossed a number of times over the years and he?s always been a gentleman. He?s a certain Hall of Famer who earned everything he?s gotten. Nothing was handed to him. It?s the perfect test for me.?
It?s also the perfect test for new Executive Director of the Florida State Boxing Commission. Cynthia Hefren is not a boxing person. Some might say that?s what wrong with sport. But it?s possible that the opposite is true. She has a good head on her shoulders and, as a relative novice, comes into the fight game with a clean slate.
?We have seven professional fights in October, so we?re very busy,? she told me. ?We can?t complain about not being busy. Before this appointment, I was Audit Director for the department. The Deputy Secretary came to me last summer and asked if I would, or my staff would, conduct an audit of the commission, to see where things stood. We did that and we found some problems, basically problems connected to the collection of revenue, some issues with licensing and business processing controls; the controls were weak. We looked at the commission office overall to see how well it was running, and again we found some problems. So, in order to fix these problems, the Secretary asked me if I?d be interested in heading the commission?and no one was more shocked than me. I said, ?Are you kidding?? But he wasn?t.?
It has been, needless to say, a bit of a rollercoaster ride since then.
?It has been an adventure. As you know, I hadn?t been exposed to boxing and I?m fascinated by it. The athleticism, the endurance?these athletes are amazing and it?s a very interesting culture. I?ve been learning something new every day. I?ve learned how events are conducted, the behind-the-scenes of what it takes to sanction a professional event.
?I?m grateful for this opportunity, because if I can do this, I can do anything.?
