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It is only right that the next big star to come out of Puerto Rico seek for his revenge on the eve of the Puerto Rican day parade. On Saturday, June 11, the twenty-four-year-old native of Caguas makes his Madison Square Garden debut. For the first time in five years, Miguel Cotto will take on the last man to beat him in the squared circle. The man to accomplish that feat is none other than Mohamad Abdulaev. At the ripe age of twenty-six, the native of Uzbekistan disposed of Cotto, while on his way to winning the gold medal in the 2000 Olympics. A lot has changed since then. For starters, Miguel Cotto sports an undefeated record and has a championship belt to go along with it. Cotto earned his title by knocking out Kelson Pinto, who ironically beat him in the amateurs. So listen to me when I tell you to forget the past, let’s just deal with the present.
In what will be Cotto’s third defense of his WBO title, he takes on a man who now stands at 15-1, with his only loss coming to Emmanuel Clottey two tears ago. Abdulaev has won his last four fights, three of them by way of knockout. Now, in Miguel’s last fight, against Demarcus “Chop Chop” Corley, we saw some things that we were not accustomed to seeing from Miguel. His lack of patience combined with just outright recklessness nearly cost him the fight. In the third round, a well-placed right hook to the temple had Cotto knocked out on his feet. Cotto did manage to come back strong and knock Corley out. Although the stoppage was premature, we cannot go back and change the past. Let’s face it, he knocked him out.
On Wednesday’s conference call, Miguel had much to say. As he enters center ring in boxing’s Mecca, Madison Square Garden, you can expect an enormous turnout as Latinos from all over the world will come out and show their love and support for Puerto Rico’s newest and latest great hope since the retirement of “Tito” Trinidad. In a fight that has revenge written all over it, Cotto thinks otherwise. He says this latest fight has nothing to do with revenge: “I can’t think of it as personal. I’m a professional. I have a job to do. The Olympic chapter is over. Now its time for a new chapter.”
When asked to comment on how he felt about Abdulaev saying he is using the tape of that fight in 2000 as part of his training, as well as saying that it is the blueprint to beat him, Cotto responded by saying, “I know that might be what he is looking for on June 11, but he should be looking at something else. He will be in for a rude awakening if he thinks he’s going to be fighting that same nineteen-year-old in Australia five years ago.”
Cotto stated that he has paid little attention to Abdulaev the professional. “I’ve seen very little of him, I don’t worry about what my opponent comes into the ring to do. I worry about what I want to do. I worry about imposing my will on him. The biggest difference he will see from five years ago is that my experience has been great. I will try to win, round by round, see what he brings in and keep the pressure on. That’s what I do in all my fights.”
Cotto also went on to praise Top Rank’s veteran matchmaker Bruce Trampler, saying that Trampler’s fight choices have always been good and saying that he will be glad to fight whoever Trampler and Top Rank choose in the future. It was my first time ever hearing a fighter give credit to the matchmaker. This fight just adds more excitement to what is arguably the best division in boxing. You have nothing but “monsters” here. Vivian Harris, Floyd Mayweather, Ricky Hatton and in case you have not heard after his sensational victory over Jose Luis Castillo, Diego “Chico” Corrales is flirting with moving to 140-pounds. As a fight fan, I think I speak for everybody when I say that the best should fight the best. The way things are looking in the junior welterweight division, we will not be disappointed. You can bank on that.
Edwin Gonzalez can be reached at prpapa427@aol.com
