Cotto-Trout Preview: Experience will be the key Factor

0
1149

On Saturday night boxing returns to the Mecca, Madison Square Garden, as Puerto Rican superstar Miguel Cotto will face off against the 27 year old WBA World Light Middleweight Champion, Austin “No Doubt” Trout. Not only should this fight be a good fight, but the repercussions of the fight could prove to be even more impactful and special fights in the future on May 4th may be in balance against Canelo Alvarez or Floyd Mayweather. Cotto has gotten a big money fight, now he wishes to add on to his already impressive career, while the champion, Austin Trout hopes that a fight against a big name like Cotto will finally give him the respect that he feels he deserves as an undefeated champion.

Miguel Cotto is one of the top fighters of the sport and has won practically everything he has set out to win in his lifetime. He is still only 32, which is young for a boxer, but he has gone through many battles in his 7 year career. As he has grown older, like most boxers, he has gotten smarter, not only in the ring, but outside, as he has his own promotion company with his own fighters, he has expanded his business to the point where he will be the primary promoter for this event. He has been the model of what you want to be business-wise when going through the transformation of being a boxer to a promoter.

This will be Cotto’s 1st fight since his unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather last May. He comes into this fight with only 3 blemishes on his 37-3 with 30 KOs record, a loss to Manny Pacquiao in 2009, a controversial loss to Antonio Margarito in 2008, which he got his revenge approximately a year ago, and the previously mentioned loss to Mayweather. His resume includes being a 4 time champion over 3 weight classes and wins against the likes of Randall Bailey, Demarcus Corley, Paulie Malignaggi, Carlos Quintana, Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, Joshua Clottey, Yuri Foreman, Ricardo Mayorga, and the previously mentioned Antonio Margarito. A win here would set him up for either his choosing of another big money fight or just retiring as a 5 time champion.

The New Mexican born Austin Trout comes has done not one thing wrong. He has defeated everyone 1 of his opponents, more than half he has been able to win by early stoppage, and he is a current champion. He’s a confident guy that feels, and rightfully so, that as an undefeated champion, he should be getting bigger fights, bigger paydays, and shouldn’t have to defend his record. Trout will try to come out of this fight with the respect of the boxing community and the possibility of a fight against Canelo as some point next year.

Trout’s record of 25-0 with 14 KOs is impressive, but it doesn’t even come in close comparison of Cotto’s. Which therein lies the problem with Trout thus far. He hasn’t gotten a signature win. When you watch Trout, you see all the physical talents of a potential beast in the ring. He’s 5’10, 72 in reach, proportionately built, and he uses his jab very well. However, he has not fought anyone to disrupt him or take him out of his game. Trout must also break the shell that people are starting to put him into as a “boring” fighter. If you are a fighter that doesn’t knock people out and just jabs people to death, it’s effective, but not appealing and when you’re not appealing, you don’t get big fights on PPV, and let’s face it, this is prize fighting and being a “moneymaker” is a HUGE part of it.

This is Trout’s 1st legitimate fight against a highly known fighter with enough talent to make him possibly have to go to a secondary plan. He will not be able to jab Cotto to death like he did in his last fight against Delvin Rodriguez. He must be able to fight inside, dirty box, and show some heart that he hasn’t been forced to show before. This fight will come down to whether Trout can use his jab enough to control the tempo of the fight and keep Cotto outside or whether Cotto can get inside, pound the body of Trout, and try to wear him down as the fight goes along. I think this is a fight that can go either way and you will be able to tell who will win within the 1st 3 rounds. In the end, I have to go with the experience and past performances. Cotto’s only 3 losses were 2 the 2 best fighters in the world and another to an accused cheater, other than that, it’s hard to fight any issues with him. Unless he shows different, I think Cotto continues to be a top fighter. Cotto gets inside and wins by 9th rd TKO.

Canelo Alvarez will definitely be an interested in this fight as he has made it very clear that he want to either fight Floyd Mayweather in a super fight on the weekend of Cinco de Mayo or he wants a big PPV fight against Miguel Cotto. While if Trout wins, he will probably want a fight against Canelo by the end of next year. No matter who comes out on top, this fight will help to shape the landscape of boxing in 2013 and possibly the future of the sport, enjoy the fights.