By Mike Cassell – The Philadelphia Boxing Report 4/13//08 — Atlantic City – Give Alfonso Gomez credit. He did something that Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, and a host of other “so called” hall of fame fighters will not think about doing and that is step into the ring with Miguel Cotto. Maybe Cotto needs to join the WWE or put on pair fishnet stockings to lure these guys into the ring..
Saturday night in Boardwalk Hall started out as a championship fight, and then quickly deteriorated into a sparring session that was both funny and embarrassing for the former contender hopeful. Cotto was just too fast, too strong and flat out too good for Gomez, who was toughly outclassed from the sound of the first bell. Cotto moved to 32 – 0 (26KO’s), landing nearly 60% of his punches and taking Gomez off his feet two times. The ringside physician called an end to the fight in the fifth as his eyes were swollen shut, and he just had nothing that could hurt Cotto. I can’t get angry for Cotto taking this fight, because Cotto runs from no one. He is a true old school type fighter that will stand toe to toe with the best.
Nearly a year and a half ago, he stood fought the very tough Carlos Quintana and knocked him out with a tremendous liver punch. After Quintana destroyed Paul Williams this year, we got a pretty good idea of just how good Cotto is, and just how dangerous that fight with Quintana was for Cotto. But that is Cotto. He will fight the guys that are up and coming. He will fight the guys nobody wants to fight, and in July he will yet again fight a guy that Floyd Mayweather dodged his whole career, Antonio Margarito. Margarito dominated and knocked out Kermit Cintron with a body punch in the sixth round for the IBF crown on the undercard Saturday night in Boardwalk Hall.
Margarito is a self described hard luck story who finally got his day in the sun, and boxing fans everywhere will benefit from it in July.
This fight will define both of these men like never before. Margarito is someone that has will and ability, and he is very hard to hurt. Cotto relentlessly moves forward with a controlled chaos that can be both graceful and destructive. This will be fight of the year. Cotto has recently commented that he doesn’t need Mayweather, and he probably doesn’t, but it makes you think about the true competitive nature of De La Hoya and Mayweather. How can they watch Miguel Cotto destroy fighter after fighter and not want to test their skills against him. It seems as if De La Hoya may have become the very thing he accused promoters like Arum and King of for years, and that is trying to control the game. Money is a good thing and every fighter should make as much as they can for as long as they can, but for fighters like Mayweather and De La Hoya who consider themselves legends and Icons, what are thinking when they watch Cotto fight? Now that the feud has ended between Golden boy and Top Rank, it might be time for these guys to sit down make a Cotto matchup with either Mayweather or De La Hoya a reality.
Bob Arum knows what he has in Cotto, and he is also keenly aware that there is big money waiting down the road. He is always smiling when asked about a Mayweather or De la Hoya match up. When asked about that subject in Atlantic City he smiled and replied.
“Cotto is not worried about his face, or dancing or wrestling on TV. He is a fighter that will fight anybody, and I mean anybody. What more can you ask from a world champion?”
What more indeed.