A very determined Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) made a statement with an impressive performance against Delvin Rodriguez (28-7-3, 16 KO’s), showing the world he’s still an elite fighter.
As Cotto made his walkout, many could see how focused he was, entering the ring without music. (Images courtesy of Chris Farina, Top Rank) Once the ring bell sounded, Cotto broke down his opponent with thunderous body shots.
He worked his left hook to the body masterfully, landing multiple shots with bad intentions and accuracy.
Rodriguez, who was being dominated by Cotto, appeared stunned as the 2nd round came to a close following a ferocious Cotto left hook.
At the start of Round 3, Cotto immediately continued the attack and landed another thunderous left hook that dropped Rodriguez 13 seconds into the round, forcing Referee Frank Santore to stop the fight.
Legendary trainer Freddie Roach envisioned this version of Cotto when he joined the team and Cotto was able to make it reality by executing Roach’s game plan to perfection. Cotto was aggressive and tenacious in his attack and landed 54 percent of his power punches, many of which were thudding shots to the body.
“The body shots broke him down and the head shot knocked him out,” said Roach afterwards.
Cotto vs Rodriguez Stats According to CompuBox PunchStats, Cotto landed 55 of 110 punches while Delvin connected on only 16 of 68.
What’s next for Cotto? There are a number of possibilities including newly-crowned IBF Jr Middleweight Champion Carlos Molina, Sergio Martinez, Canelo Alvarez and possibly a rematch with lineal jr middleweight champion Floyd Mayweather.
At the moment, the likely choice appears to be superstar Canelo Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) whose camp has publicly shown interest in a fight with the Puerto Rican Star. Canelo’s trainer, Eddie Reynoso, told ESPN deportes, “He’s the biggest name, Cotto, I think he would be the most ideal, but we have to see how he [Cotto] goes with Delvin Rodriguez on Oct. 5.”
Last night’s strong performance definitely makes Cotto deserving of another superfight.
