[FIGHT BIO] Miguel “Junito” Cotto | The 4-Division Puerto Rican Champion

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Who Is Miguel Cotto?

Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez is a former professional boxer. He was born on the 29th of October, 1980 in Providence, Rhode Island, and then raised in Puerto Rico from the age of 2. He holds several world title belts, like the IBF, WBO, and IBO light-welterweight crowns.

Cotto won various international titles as an amateur boxer, including the Pan American Games, the World Junior Championships, and the 2000 Olympic Games.

Miguel started boxing early on in his life to become healthier and to lose weight, never thinking it would go further than that.

After falling in love with the sport and wanting to develop his natural talent for boxing, he eventually started training at Bairoa Gym in Caguas.

Where he began training even harder and started his amateur career.

Cotto shares his boxing talent with others in his family who’ve also had success in the sport, like his late father (Miguel Cotto Sr.), brother (José Miguel Cotto), cousin (Abner Cotto), and uncle (Evangelista Cotto).

He was even coached by the legendary Freddie Roach, a Hall Of Fame coach.

Cotto first fought at lightweight and light-welterweight, but later moved to welterweight in 2006.

For his fight with Yuri Foreman where they competed for the WBA title, Cotti moved up to light-middleweight and stayed between that and middleweight for the rest of his career.

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What Happened To Miguel Cotto?

In 2001 (age 21), something tragic happened to Miguel Cotto in Caguas. He was driving to his training center early one morning, and struggling to stay awake. Cotto fell asleep behind the steering wheel, causing him to crash his car into a concrete wall.

Miguel injured his hand and shoulder in the accident, raising doubts about his future career as a professional boxer.

However, Cotto managed to make a full recovery and went on the become the legendary boxer we know today.

Why Did Miguel Cotto Retire?

Miguel fought his last bout on December 2nd, 2017 against Sadam Ali. He stopped boxing at the age of 37 to spend more time with his family. Cotto said that boxing was a gift, but after 26 years in the sport, he has to get back the time he’d lost with his family competing all those years.

For Miguel Cotto, his family needed to come first.

Cotto will always be remembered as one of the best boxers of his generation.

There’s no doubt his fans miss seeing him in the ring.

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What Is Miguel Cotto’s Net Worth?

Miguel Cotto is currently worth an estimated $25 million. He made most of his money through boxing and sponsorships, making $45 million from his boxing career alone. His biggest payout being $15 million from his fight against Canelo Alvarez

Cotto had another big payday for his fight against Floyd Mayweather, which earned him $8 million.

Cotto said he had more than enough money to sit back and be with his family, letting his children study what they wanted.

He now owns a promotional company called Promociones Miguel Cotto and has also founded Fundacion El Angel, which keeps him busy.

Was Miguel Cotto A Good Boxer?

Cotto was known as the best boxer to fight out of Puerto Rico after his outstanding career, winning championships in 4 different divisions.

He has a record of 41 wins and 6 losses, winning 33 of them by knockout. Cotto became the first Puerto Rican to become a World Boxing Champion in four-weight divisions.

Let’s look at his fights in more detail.

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Who Did Miguel Cotto Lose To?

Miguel lost only 6 fights in his professional career.

He lost against:

1. Antonio Margarito
2. Manny Pacquiao
3. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
4. Austin Trout
5. Saul Alvarez
6. Sadam Ali

Here’s a rundown of his most memorable bouts.

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Miguel Cotto Vs Floyd Mayweather

Cotto and Mayweather fought on May 5th, 2012 in Paradise, Nevada.

The fight went all of the scheduled 12 rounds.

Mayweather came out strong and was very dominant in the first few rounds, landing hard right hooks to Cotto’s face and keeping him on the backfoot.

Cotto struggled to land any significant shots on Mayweather in the earlier rounds.

He managed to claw back with a promising 8th round performance, landing more shots than Mayweather and keeping him against the ropes.

Cotto was also landing his powerful left hooks to the body and left jabs to Mayweather’s face, causing Mayweather to bleed from his mouth and nose.

Floyd then started fighting back, landed hard uppercuts and right hooks, nearly dropping Cotto at the end of the fight.

Mayweather won the fight by Unanimous Decision.

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Miguel Cotto Vs Canelo Alvarez

Cotto and Alvarez fought a bout scheduled for 12 rounds on the 21st of November, 2015 in Nevada.

The fight started quite equally between the two boxers, both trading heavy shots to the face and body.

Later in the fight, Canelo started dominating by throwing hard uppercuts and hooks, forcing Cotto to defend his face and body.

Cotto then came back with some of his own combinations, hurting Canelo.

Closer to the end of the fight, both boxers were throwing shots at each other and making the crowd go wild.

Canelo landed some of the harder shots, hurting Cotto in the 12th round.

The fight ended with Canelo winning the fight by Unanimous Decision.

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Miguel Cotto Vs Antonio Margarito

Cotto fought Margarito in Paradise, Nevada on the 26th of July, 2008.

The bout was scheduled for 12 rounds but ended in the 11th.

Cotto was very dominant in the first few rounds, taking control of the fight and keeping Margarito on the defense.

Margarito then came back with some heavy blows later on in the fight, hurting Cotto badly on his left eye and nose.

Cotto tried fighting back but seemed too hurt and exhausted to keep going.

He was knocked down twice in the 11th round with hard strikes to the head.

After the second knockdown, Cotto’s corner threw in the towel, stopping the fight.

Antonio won the fight by a convincing TKO.

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Miguel Cotto Vs Antonio Margarito 2

Cotto and Margarito fought for the second time on December 3rd, 2011 in New York City.

The fight was scheduled for 12 rounds but only lasted until the 10th.

Miguel started the fight as the faster, more dominant fighter.

Landing most of his shots, and giving no space for Margarito to work.

Cotto opened a cut on the right eye of Antonio in the 3rd round.

Margarito’s eye was closing quickly, even causing concerns for the doctor.

Cotto kept targeting that eye with his powerful left hand.

The fight was nearly stopped in the 9th round, but Margarito kept fighting until early in the 10th round when the doctor stopped the fight.

Antonio’s right eye was completely closed shut.

Cotto won the fight by TKO, taking back the title from Margarito.

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Miguel Cotto Vs Manny Pacquiao

Cotto fought Pacquiao in Nevada on the 14th of November 2009.

The fight was scheduled for 12 rounds.

Both fighters started out focused in the first two rounds, taking it easy and feeling each other out until the third round.

Cotto was landing some good shots but Manny started fighting back and landing even heavier punches.

Pacquiao knocked Cotto down in rounds 3 and 4, but both times Cotto managed to get back up.

Manny then took control of the fight, keeping Cotto against the ropes most of the time.

Cotto landed some good left hooks to Manny’s face, but Manny shook it off.

Miguel’s face was visibly swollen and getting worse as the fight progressed.

The referee stopped the fight in round 12, giving Manny the win by TKO.

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Miguel Cotto “Junito” Profile

Born	October 29, 1980
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Division	Light-Welterweight Welterweight Light-Middleweight Middleweight
Height	5ft 7in (170cm)
Weight	69kg
Reach	67in (170cm)
Debut	February 21, 2001

Miguel Cotto’s Professional Record