By: Sean Crose
Miguel Cotto is taking the lead of other former greats and returning to the ring. So, it seems is fellow former great Juan Manuel Marquez. In fact, the two men are reportedly in line to face each other in a June 12th exhibition match. Each man is an icon of the sport of boxing and unquestionably many wish they had faced off in their primes. Yet in an era when many top active boxers are not facing off, fighters of another time are filling the void. In truth, Cotto and Marquez have only recently entered the “old timers” club that has taken hold of the fight world.
Cotto last fought in 2017, boasting of a record of 44 wins and 6 loses. Winning major titles in four different weight divisions, Cotto battled a who’s who of ring greats. Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez, Antonio Margarito and Sergio Martinez are just some of the top-level fighters the now forty-year-old former champion has faced. Just how good was Cotto? He is ranked by some as being just under Mayweather and Pacquiao as the best of his era. Sure enough, he gave both those men very tough battles – while they were in their heydays.
Glorious as his career may have been, Cotto will be meeting his equal in Marquez. Best known for flattening Pacquiao in historic fashion (the image of a sprawled out PacMan will stay with fight fans for as long as there are fight fans), Marquez also has the distinction of being a four-division weight champion. His list of opponents, besides Pacquiao, who he fought four times, includes Mayweather, Tim Bradley, Marco Antonio Barrera, and Mike Alvarado. Now 47, Marquez last fought in 2014. Like Cotto, Marquez spent a good amount of time throughout his career as a pay per view attraction.
The Cotto-Marquez fight will be going down in Miami. It will also continue the sport’s famed Puerto Rico-Mexico rivalry, as Cotto is Puerto Rican and Marquez is from Mexico. Still, this event may face some tough competition. Mike Tyson is hoping to fight Memorial Day Weekend. What’s more, Oscar De La Hoya will return in July, Jake Paul will face Ben Askren in April, and its just been announced that Julio Caesar Chavez Jr will be fighting Anderson Silva in June. That’s a lot of novelty bout action packed into a very short period of time.