The Boxing Tribune

Boxing's Independent Media

  • Home
  • News
  • Videos
  • Best Of
  • Staff
  • Advertise With Us
  • Write for Us

Cotto-Martinez: Have We Seen This Before?

June 3, 2014 by Phil Rivera Leave a Comment

0
SHARES
ShareTweet

There are moments in sports when history repeats itself. The New York Rangers are headed to the Stanley Cup finals like they were 20-years-ago; the Miami Heat are on a finals collision course with the San Antonio Spurs for the second consecutive year and California Chrome is the tenth horse in 25 years to vie for the triple crown. Also, on June 7, Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KOs) fights Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KOs) for the middleweight championship of the world; in a strikingly similar situation to the Oscar De La Hoya-Bernard Hopkins title bout cotto-martinez310-years-ago.

Both Cotto and De La Hoya are former Olympians who moved up to middleweight after spending most of their careers at the 140 and 147-pound divisions. The two are also natural southpaws who’ve fought in an orthodox stance, with their jab and left hook being their most affective punches. Going into the Hopkins fight the “Golden Boy” was 31-years-old and had a record of 37-3; the 33-year-old Cotto has an almost identical record of 38-4. Cotto is and De La Hoya was giving up about a three-inch height advantage. They’ve also struggled against top tier opposition. Prior to his chance at the 160-pound crown, De La Hoya was beaten by Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosely; Cotto has suffered defeats at the hands of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.

The “B-side’s”, as the fight promotion dictates, also share a likeness. Let’s look at the parallels between the 2004 version of Bernard Hopkins and the current WBC middleweight champ Sergio Martinez.

Both started to box late professionally. Hopkins was 23 and Martinez was two months shy of his 23rd birthday. A decade ago, Hopkins was the consensus and lineal middleweight champion like Martinez is today. The Philly legend was 39-years-old when he fought De La Hoya, the same age as Martinez is now. The Argentinian has two defeats on his record like Hopkins had then. And—as champions—they’ve had to make concessions, agreeing to fight their smaller foes at or below 159-pounds.

If you’re a Cotto fan, you hope the similarities between the two mega fights don’t carry over into the ring. Because, although De La Hoya had some early success using his speed to flurry in and out of danger; Hopkins eventually wore him down and knocked him out with a liver shot in the ninth round.

That being said, if you look at boxing’s recent history, size doesn’t always matter. In 2003, Roy Jones Jr. moved up a weight class to defeat John Ruiz for a heavyweight strap and Manny Pacquiao gave up almost five inches and 17-pounds when he beat Antonio Margarito in 2010.

So, if the characteristics of Cotto-Martinez make you ask yourself “where have I seen this before?” the answer should be, the summer of 2004. But, with less than a week to go until their tussle at the Mecca, only time will tell if Miguel Cotto makes history or if history repeats itself, with the middleweight king leaving victorious.

Phil Rivera
Phil Rivera

Filed Under: Featured, Opinion Tagged With: Miguel Cotto, Sergio Martinez

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Best of The Boxing Tribune

My Life As An Aztec; Magno’s Monday Rant

My Life As An Aztec; Magno’s Monday Rant

No One Here Gets Out Alive (Who Really Killed Frankie Leal?); Magno’s Monday Rant

No One Here Gets Out Alive (Who Really Killed Frankie Leal?); Magno’s Monday Rant

Golovkin: Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride; Magno’s Monday Rant

Golovkin: Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride; Magno’s Monday Rant

Lazarte, Club Once Unidos, and The Lifetime Ban; Magno’s Monday Rant

Lazarte, Club Once Unidos, and The Lifetime Ban; Magno’s Monday Rant

My Life as a Boxer’s Wife: King Carlos Molina’s Queen (Part One)

My Life as a Boxer’s Wife: King Carlos Molina’s Queen (Part One)

More of The Boxing Tribune's Best

Follow Us

Facebooktwitteryoutube

Alexa Traffic Rank

Sportsbook odds for all Boxing matches

Search

Recent

  • Tyson returns with impressive display as odds available for potential future opponents
  • Crawford maintains unbeaten record following landing short odds in victory over Kell Brook
  • Kell Brook Loses In the Fourth Round To P4P King Terence Crawford
  • Boxing To Look Forward To This Weekend
  • How to Make Money From Your Boxing Passion