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Miguel Cotto Boxing Autograph
A super 8x10 Action Photo of Junior Welterweight
Champion Miguel Cotto. Signed in Blue Sharpie and a rare
boxing autograph to obtain.
MIGUEL COTTO
SOLD
Miguel Cotto (born October 29, 1980) is a professional
boxer from Puerto Rico. A native of Caguas, he shares, coincidentally,
his birthday with another famous Puerto Rican boxer: Wilfredo
Gomez. His brother, Jose Miguel Cotto, is also a professional
boxer whom many think is destined to become a world champion.
Jose Miguel is undefeated in 27 bouts.
Cotto was taken as a little kid to the famous Bairoa Gym
in Caguas, where Juan Carazo and Alberto Mercado also trained.
There, he was able to develop into a top amateur fighter
who won several international competitions and represented
Puerto Rico at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. After being eliminated
from those games in the first classificatory round, Cotto
decided to turn professional.
As a professional, Cotto has a record of 25-0 with 21 knockout
wins. He has been able to beat some strong competition,
such as former world title challenger John Brown (by a 10
round decision, at the Oscar De La Hoya-Fernando Vargas
fight undercard) and former world champion Cesar Cobrita
Soto, by a knockout in round 11.
In 2001, Cotto suffered a dangerous injury that threatened
his boxing career: As he was driving to the gymnasium at
5 am in the morning one day, he apparently fell asleep and
had an accident, breaking his arm and requiring hospitalization.
On September 13, 2003, Cotto beat former title challenger
Demetrio Ceballos by a knockout in round seven at Las Vegas.
With this, he was ranked number one by the WBA in his division,
which is lead, as of 2004, by Kostya Tszyu.
Cotto himself began 2004 by beating Sammy Sosa's cousin,
the former world title challenger Victoriano Sosa, by a
knockout in round four. This was after a mishap filled previous
week to the fight, which included Cotto having to wait for
four hours for his luggage bags to arrive (after a 2am local
time arrival) at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas,
and almost being removed from the Mandalay Bay Hotel, where
the fight was held at, by a security guard who thought he
was an unaccompanied minor.
On April 8 of 2004, he defeated the former world title
challenger, Lovemore Ndou, over twelve rounds, by the unanimous
scores of 117-111, and 115-113 (twice), once again, in Las
Vegas.
On the early morning hours of June 9 of that year, Cotto
and his family were involved in another car accident, this
time with his wife as driver.: driving from Aguas Buenas
to Caguas on a darkened road after picking up their children,
their car skid off the road and landed upside down. According
to police reports, she saw a black bag on the road. Fearing
the bag might contain a dead body or anything else, she
avoided it but lost control of the car, leading to the accident.
Neither the driver or the passengers involved in the accident
were hurt, and Cotto was able to fly to New York the next
day, where he would take part in a series of promotional
activities with fellow boxer and friend, Ivan Calderon.
For his next bout Cotto would face the highly skilled Brazilian
Kelson Pinto for Pinto's WBO junior welterweight title.
Pinto was not a stranger to Cotto, as amateurs they had
met in the ring before at the Sydney 2000 Olympics with
Pinto beating the then 19 year old Cotto. This fight was
being televised by HBO from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Cotto
became world champion by knocking Pinto out in six rounds.
On December 11, he retained the title for the first time,
beating former world champion Randall Bailey by a sixth
round knockout, as part of the Vitali Klitschko-Danny Williams
undercard in Las Vegas.
Cotto is regarded by many as the next Felix TrinidadEleven
days later, on December 22, the Puerto Rican boxing commission
named Cotto Puerto Rico's fighter of the year for 2004.
On February 26, 2005, Cotto made his second successful
title defense by knocking out former world champion Demarcus
Corley in the fifth round at the Ruben Rodriguez coliseum
in Bayamon.
Just a few days after retaining the crown versus Corley,
Cotto received another personal blow, when his stablemate
and friend, former 2004 Olympian Joseph Serrano, was shot
to the head upon leaving the Bairoa gym. Serrano has (so
far) survived the shot, he is in critical but stable condition
at a local hospital.
On June 11, 2005 he faced the last man to beat him as amateurs.
Future gold medalist Mohamed Abdulaev from Uzbekistan. As
amateurs Abdulaev eliminated Cotto from the first round
of the 2000,Sydney Olympics. But this time they met as professionals
in New York City's Madison Square Garden. During that fight
Abdulaev's right eye was swollen shut, realizing it would
impair him from seeing any of Cotto's dangerous left hooks
he complained to the referee of not being able to see, and
after the ringside Dr. viewed the eye the fight was halted
in the 9th round, and Cotto retained his WBO Jr. welterweight
title.
On September 24, he retained his title, after being dropped
in the second round, when he knocked out Ricardo Torres
of Colombia in seven rounds at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic
City, New Jersey.
