Later on today, Miguel Cotto defends his WBA light middleweight title on Showtime pay per view against Ricardo Mayorga in a fight that could potentially mean bigger and better things for the winner.
Should Mayorga win, a big money fight with Manny Pacquiao could be on the cards for later this year, a fight which Top Rank boss Bob Arum has already talked up as a big seller.
If Cotto wins as expected, a showdown with long time rival Antonio Margarito is a likely next move, a rematch that he has wanted since the revelations over Margarito’s loaded hand wraps against Shane Mosley. Should he win that, a rematch with Pacquiao in the early part of 2012 is also potentially an option.
First though, they both have to get through tonight, and with good reason, Cotto is the big favorite.
During the build up to the fight, a lot was made of how dangerous an opponent Mayorga would be, if only be early on. The fact that Cotto already has another fight penciled in for the summer against old rival Antonio Margarito though suggests that Top Rank at least are confident of an easy victory.
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Mayorga as usual has been doing his level best to both get inside Cotto’s head and sell pay per views by trash talking his opponent at every turn, and on one count appears to have succeeded. At both the weigh in and press conference Miguel Cotto refused to pose face to face with the Nicaraguan, which some have taken as a sign that Mayorga’s taunts are getting to him.
Of course it could just be that Cotto isn’t interested in any of Mayorga’s theatrics, or in potentially getting into a pre-fight brawl that would only play into Mayorga’s hands.
Either way, this fight is essentially Cotto’s to lose. While fans might debate over whether his best days are behind him after tough losses to the likes of Margarito and Manny Pacquiao, the fact is that Cotto simply has more tools than Mayorga.
Since joining forces with noted trainer Emmanuel Steward shortly before taking on Yuri Foreman for his WBA light middleweight title, Miguel Cotto has shown a more patient approach in the ring, and undoubtedly Steward will instruct Cotto to use his jab and wear Mayorga down without getting into a brawl.
If he can stick to this then the fight is as good as won since Mayorga’s game plans often don’t go beyond goading opponents into trading punches with him until one of them falls over.
If either Mayorga has succeeded in getting inside Cotto’s head during the pre-fight build up, or manages to catch and hurt him during the fight, then the fight becomes a lot more dangerous for Cotto. While it is conceivably that he could win a brawl with Mayorga, the advantage would certainly be with the challenger if that were to happen.
The other big danger Mayorga poses is catching Cotto cold in the early rounds, and he has made no secret of the fact that this is what he is going to attempt. Cotto isn’t known as a particularly fast starter and if he isn’t ready to pick up the pace from the opening bell it could be a bad night for him.
Past the halfway mark of the fight either Cotto’s punches will have started doing damage or Mayorga’s lack of activity of late and advanced age will likely mean that his gas talk will be running on empty and his chance to win the fight will have passed him by.
Mayorga knows this however, meaning that early on he will throw everything he had at Cotto, who will probably try to jab and move as best he can until the Nicaraguan begins to slow down.
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Mayorga is also the bigger man, and in his last major fight Shane Mosley struggled with his size advantage, so Cotto getting a stoppage isn’t guaranteed by any means.
In the end though it will likely be Cotto’s hand raised at the end of the fight one way or another, although don’t be surprised if Mayorga has his moments and tests him along the way.
Ari Woods, Pittsburgh: “This should be a loser retires fight, Mayorga has been shot for a while but he can punch and Cotto isn’t the same as he was before Margo and Pac destroyed him”
