Miguel Cotto Brings the Brawl to Brooklyn



On Saturday, and for the second week in a row, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn will play host to big-time boxing. Last Friday, Amir Khan ignited enough combinations to win a unanimous decision over Chris Algieri. “King Kong” has never been known as the king of fistic excitement, but this was a thrilling contest. It was also one that will add muscle to Khan’s resume–a resume that Khan fervently hopes will make him Floyd Mayweather Jr. next opponent.

Tomorrow, Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 knockouts) will be aiming his potent left hook at the body and cranium of Australian Daniel Geale (31-3, 16 knockouts).

Cotto is a longtime resident of Caguas, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has produced as many boxing greats per capita as any place in the world and Cotto is one of the most popular Puerto Ricans fighters in history.

A veteran of epic brawls with Pacquiao, Mayweather, Mosley, and Martinez, the tattooed 34-year-old pugilist, with the glint of a Spartan warrior, is one of a tiny cadre of combatants who can flatten an opponent and make him a millionaire at the same time.

In this HBO telecast tussle, Cotto will be defending his WBC middleweight world championship. The weight limit for middies is 160 pounds. But Cotto’s heavyweight ability to put spectators in seats gives him the leverage to set the terms. Intent on annoying and siphoning off some of Geale’s strength, the Cotto team demanded that this fight take place at a catchweight of 157. There is some concern as to whether or not Geale can come down that low.