Cotto: The Man Hatton Would Like to Be.
 © Mike Cleary |
After watching Miguel Cotto systematically picking apart the former WBO light welterweight champion, Randall Bailey, Ricky Hatton could be forgiven for thinking of what might have been. The Manchester fighter must have been thinking, “That should have been me.” I feel sure Ricky would have disposed of Bailey, but not necessarily without some scary |
moments along the way. If he had done so in the first defense of a world title after just twenty-one paid bouts and with the boxing media singing his praises and comparing him to great fighters of the recent past, this would have made any pain endured in the process feel well worth the effort. The message that has come through loud and clear from the “hit man” over the past twelve months is that prestige and glory is far higher up his list of priorities than financial gain. Despite the plaudits he received for his impressive tenth round TKO of usually durable veteran Ray Oliveira at London’s ExCel Arena only hours before, Cotto is achieving everything the Manchester man craves.
The tragic thing is that Hatton would willingly get in with Cotto tomorrow to try and prove wrong all the doubters on both sides of the Atlantic. And doubted Ricky certainly is among the fight intelligentsia in the States as well as a growing number of English writers, frustrated at the lack of big fights to cover. Although, to be fair, the English skeptics are more disappointed with Team Hatton’s promotional department than with the fighter himself. But for now, Ricky will have to watch from a distance as the Puerto Rican enjoys the type of career that Hatton believes should have been his. Back to the bout itself. From the start Bailey made his intentions clear, planting his feet and looking for well placed power shots from the off. He had sporadic success in the first round landing a couple of meaty rights that got Cotto’s attention. But right from the start it was not so much what Cotto did as what he didn’t do. He did not get drawn into a slugfest. He did not in any way look rattled, but fired back when the opportunity arose and generally looked like a man who knew his time would come.
Miguel Cotto’s performance in the second round encapsulated his complete boxing style in three minutes. Early in the stanza he took two decent rights, fired back and then reverted to counter-punching mode. Bailey took on the role of aggressor and came in close. With the Puerto Rican’s high-held guard and tightly tucked in chin, the obvious way of getting to him was the uppercut. With roughly thirty seconds to go in the round Bailey set himself for the shot, just as he was about to unleash it, “boom”, Cotto nailed him with a perfect right counter. As the challenger wearily got to his feet, Cotto refused to dive in, obviously not deeming the time to be right for the finish. More than the pain inflicted, a clear message had been sent to the veteran. There was a way to get to Cotto, but it came at a price. Bailey found the cost beyond his means.
The third round saw Cotto steadily turn up the heat, hurting Bailey to the body and forcing him to take the knee when a nasty cut opened up on his left eye. The fourth and fifth rounds saw Cotto patiently pick off the challenger at will and basically soften him up for the inevitable finish. In the sixth, Cotto decided it was time to go home for the night and began to rip into the challenger with a vicious head and body attack. With every punch that landed you could see the resistance drain out of Bailey. When the doctor intervened and asked if he could see out of the damaged eye, Bailey said no and the fight was over. This definitely saved Bailey from a certain knockout defeat. Cotto strode around the ring with the air of a man who had just carried out a routine task, another day at the office.
This clinical performance demonstrated why some people are beginning to talk of Cotto as not only the best in the world, but wondering aloud if this is a legend in the making. Premature? Definitely. Over the top? Of course, this is boxing. But not completely out of the question. The calmness he exudes in the heat of battle, the composure he maintains under pressure reminds this writer of a young Marco Antonio Barrera. He also seems to have a sixth sense of knowing when an opponent is just momentarily stunned and when they are ready to go. Such qualities in a twenty-four year old, with only twenty paid bouts under his belt make him a good bet to become the best light welterweight in the world and at least 50-50 to become a future hall of fame fighter. Unless of course, a certain young man from Manchester, England can prove otherwise.