Miguel Cotto biography
Date of birth : 1980-10-29
Date of death : -
Birthplace : Caguas, Puerto Rico
Nationality : Puerto Rican
Category : Sports
Last modified : 2011-03-14
Credited as : Professional boxer, WBO Welterweight Champion, Ricardo Mayorga
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Cotto's first professional fight was on February 23, 2001, against Jason Doucet. It would be the first of many victories. He has since compiled a record of 32 wins, one defeat and 26 knockouts. He has defeated such notable boxers as Zab Judah and Sugar Shane Mosley.4 On July 26, 2008, Cotto fought former WBO and IBF champion Antonio Margarito.5 The night would end with Cotto's first-ever loss, a TKO in the eleventh round.6
On February 22, 2009, Miguel Cotto won the WBO welterweight championship when he defeated Michael Jennings in the fourth round. Cotto knocked down Jennings twice before the referee stopped the fight. Cotto improved his record to 33-1 with 27 knockouts.
On June 13, 2009, Cotto defeated Joshua Clottey at Madison Square Garden, successfully defending his title in a split decision that gave him a slight edge over his rival.1 Shortly after the match, a fight between Cotto and lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao was announced. The match is tentatively scheduled for November 14, 2009, in Las Vegas.
The fight generated 1.25 million buys and 70 million dollars in domestic pay-per-view revenue, making it the most watched boxing event of 2009. Pacquiao earned around 22 million dollars for his part in the fight, whilst Cotto earned around 12 million dollars. Pacquiao-Cotto also generated a live gate of $8,847,550 from an official crowd of 15,930.
Cotto at the weigh-in on June 4, 2010.
After the Pacquiao fight, Cotto moved to the light middleweight division. On June 5, 2010, he fought against Israeli undefeated boxer Yuri Foreman at Yankee Stadium in New York. Bob Arum had said that, if Cotto wins, he would become a frontrunner to defend the WBA belt against Manny Pacquiao in November. Cotto stated that he would consider a return to the welterweight division, in case of an interesting fight.
Cotto ended up knocking Foreman down with a signature left hook to the body in the ninth round claiming the WBA light middleweight title, his fourth overall in three different weight divisions.
On March 12, 2011, Cotto defeated Ricardo Mayorga in a 12th round TKO, retaining his WBA Light Middleweight title on the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.