By Gerardo Granados
It is not official yet but it has been reported that the three division champion Miguel Angel Cotto (T38-W36(29)-L2(2)-D0), 30 years of age / 5´7” height, 67” reach; former WBO light welterweight, WBO – WBA World welterweight and current WBA Super World light middleweight champion (18 title fights) will face newly crowned WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Carrasco (T45-W-43(30)L0-D1-NC1), 25 years of age / 6´0” height, 73” reach. If Miguel Angel Cotto gets this chance he will make the most out of it because it represents a good payday and a great opportunity to become the first Puerto Rico fighter to conquer world titles in four weight divisions.
Cotto has faced great opposition such as Cesar Bazan former WBC light / 5*, Carlos Maussa former WBA World light welter / 2*, Lovemore N´dou former IBO welter and IBF light welter / 6*, Randall Bailey former WBO light welter / 7*, De Marcus Corley former WBO light welter / 6*, Ricardo Torres former WBO light welter / 5*, Paul Malignaggi former IBF light welter / 5*, Carlos Quintana former WBO welter / 4*, Zab Judah former WBC – WBA Super World – IBF welter, WBO – IBF light welter and current IBF light welter / 17*, Shane Mosley former IBF light, WBC – WBA Super World welter, WBC – WBA Super World light middle / 21*, Antonio Margarito former WBO – IBF – WBA World welter / 15*, Joshua Clottey former IBF welter / 4*, Congressman Manny Pacquiao former WBC super welterweight, IBO light welterweight, WBC lightweight, WBC super featherweight, IFB – WBA Super World featherweight, IBF – WBO super bantamweight, WBC flyweight / — , Yuri Foreman former WBA World light middle / 2* and Ricardo Mayorga former WBC – WBA Super World welter and WBC light middle; * Title fights.
Meanwhile Chavez Carrasco is just starting to show what he is capable off.
To all that might not know it, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. full name is Julio Cesar Chavez Carrasco and on the Mexican TV networks he is not only named as Chavez Jr. but also is called by his last name Chavez Carrasco.
Cotto is superior over all skilled than the brawler style of Chavez Carrasco who has serious flaws in his defense and seems hard to believe that he will be able to improve much on his defense in the near future. Chavez Carrasco has a great chin but he is not a power puncher, his edge over Cotto might be his size, height and reach, his added weight on fight night, his attack to the body is good but his technique is not perfect and has flaws, he tends to brawl on the inside rather than to take advantage of his height and reach.
Cotto is way more skilled than him, he has vast experience and has engaged against top quality opposition, his defensive and offensive skills are great, he is able to adjust during the round and his ring smarts are way better than Chavez Carrasco. His bigger disadvantage is his size because for a top middleweight he might be quite short (5´7”) to carry 160 pounds on his small frame, also his speed might be affected just as his power because Chavez Carrasco might be able to walk thru his best shots.
This fight could represent good business for all those involved. It will be another war between Puerto Rico and Mexico boxing champion’s tradition and will it guarantee big PPV sales. After the upsets of Orlando Salido and Jorge Arce this one will add fuel to the burning competition between the boxing fans of each country.
Miguel Angel Cotto would be trying to win his fourth division title against one of the weakest and maybe the most profitable of all the middleweight champions and that by its own is good for him. He may not have the same facilities if he would face the WBC “Emeritus” champion Sergio Martinez, WBA Super Champion Felix Sturm or the WBO champion Dimitry Pirog whom are not only bigger and stronger but also have the attack and defensive skills of a real champion, not as Chavez Carrasco who has very poor defensive skills and his attack is quite predictable. The IBF champion Daniel Geale, the IBO champion Avdantil Khurtsidze and the WBA regular champion Gennady Golovkin might be easier opponents for Cotto (and even for the young Chavez Carrasco) to take but they wont guarantee him a big purse.
The fight against Antonio Margarito will always be tarnished by the doubt of the use of illegal hand wraps by Antonio. But leaving that aside Cotto’s fighting style in that fight was the wrong one and now under the tutelage of trainer Emmanuel Steward he has become a smarter, more accurate and tactical fighter, also his defensive skills have blossomed.
I believe that this is a good chance for Miguel Cotto to become a four division champion but it would be a very hard fight for him, as for Chavez Carrasco he might be able to add a big name to his resume but he wont receive much respect by doing so because he is demanded to utterly defeat his rivals and his critics will say that Cotto was no longer in his prime fighting at a weight that didn’t favor him.
But none the less, it would be a great fight to watch with both fighters looking to stop his rival before the final round, great action guaranteed between these two fighters.
All I can say is, fighters engage!
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