Could Miguel Cotto face Andy Lee?

Could Miguel Cotto face Andy Lee?

By Dan Rafael | ESPN.com

Many of us would love to see middleweight champion Miguel Cotto have his next fight against titleholder Gennady Golovkin or junior middleweight star Canelo Alvarez.

Neither is going to happen, however. At least not next. I know none of us like that. Just accept it.

It seems doubtful a Golovkin fight will ever happen, and an Alvarez showdown -- for my money, the biggest fight in boxing outside of a Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao fight -- probably would not take place until the spring of 2015, if it can even be made.

But Cotto plans to fight again this year, which is a good thing. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says the date is Dec. 13 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, which is essentially the Puerto Rican star’s home arena.

Arum has also said that he would like for Cotto’s next fight to be on regular HBO, as opposed to HBO PPV, mainly because his June fight with Sergio Martinez was a huge disappointment in terms of the pay-per-view sales. But even if Arum wants it on HBO, it is still likely to be on HBO PPV because I’m told Cotto wants to be on pay-per-view and that HBO likely won’t be able to afford the level of license fee to have him on the network.

So whom can Cotto fight that would A) make for a good fight; B) draw a big crowd at MSG (although not necessarily a big PPV audience) and C) be a fight in which the challenger has a reasonable chance to win but a fight in which Cotto will be the favorite so as not to put Cotto-Alvarez into too much jeopardy.

Hello, Andy Lee!

He is a possible opponent for Cotto.

Top Rank and Cotto’s camp still need to go over the particulars of what Cotto wants for the December fight. But Top Rank has Lee on its short list for Cotto and Lou DiBella, Lee’s promoter, said he and Arum have spoken and that the fight is a possibility.

Frankly, if Cotto isn’t fighting Golovkin or Alvarez, Cotto-Lee makes a lot of sense.

Remember, Lee, who has been on HBO a few times, was supposed to fight Golovkin in April on the network, but the fight was canceled after Golovkin’s father died. He is a legitimate contender and it probably would be a crowd-pleasing fight.

When the Golovkin fight was canceled, Lee wound up winning a small-time fight in Denmark on April 12 and then fought John Jackson on the June 7 Cotto-Martinez pay-per-view undercard, surviving a hard knockdown in the first round to rally for a highlight-reel fifth-round knockout victory. That means that Lee and Cotto are on the same schedule.

Lee is also Irish, and the Irish fans in New York have always supported their fighters by gobbling up tickets.

“Bob knows we won’t price ourselves out. He knows we want the fight and knows Andy sells a lot of tickets,” DiBella said. “I really believe you’ll have a similar crowd to what Cotto-Martinez drew, and Andy really wants the fight. Bob and I have worked together on fights before. I’m sure HBO would like Andy as an opponent, and I know the Garden loves the fight. Bob and I talked about it, and he knows we want the fight.

“Andy has wanted the opportunity to fight a legend. If you’re a fighter and you don’t want to fight a future Hall of Famer and the middleweight champion of the world, you’re not a real fighter. Andy Lee is a real fighter. It’s a tremendous fight. Say what you want, but Andy can crack and he showed he can overcome adversity against Jackson.”

Arum and DiBella have made plenty of fights together over the years, including some that were more complicated than a Cotto-Lee match would be, such as the Martinez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. pay-per-view in 2012.

“All my dealing with Top Rank have been good. We have always worked well together, and when there is a fight that we have tried to make, there’s never been a fight we couldn’t get done,” DiBella said. “If Bob and Cotto want to make this deal, we’ll make it very easily. We could do it in one phone call.”

Lee (33-2, 23 KOs) challenged then-titleholder Chavez for his world title in June 2012 and was stopped in the seventh round of a competitive fight. Lee, a 30-year-old southpaw, has won five fights in a row since.

By stopping Martinez in the 10th round, Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs), 33, became the first Puerto Rican boxer to win world titles in four weight classes, further enhancing his Hall of Fame credentials.

http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/p...-face-andy-lee

Not a bad fight I'd guess and could potentially be a bit of a banana ski fight for Cotto

Think Cotto should be too good and run out with a decision, but how tall is lee? 6'2? that's big and he's got a reach to match. He's also got power to go with the size. Cotto can take a shot but not sure how many

Decent test while waiting for Canelo-Cotto, and Cotto should beat Andy

I think it's a good match up and a decent pay day for Lee. It's also a fight he's unlikely to win, but he does have a chance. I think it'll be exciting and could sell well due to Lee's popularity. As it's clear Cotto will likely avoid GGG until he's ready to retire there's precious few other options out there for him that make commercial sense. Good choice I think.

I think any fight for Cotto at middleweight is dangerous. Wouldn't be surprised if Lee throws a spanner in the works by beating him.

I agree Ranj.

Lee can box well at times. Southpaw, good punch, fairly quick. Also very awkward to actually look great against.

Saying that, if cotto boxes like he did against Sergio...he could tear him up.

Whats good about this fight? One of the biggest stars in boxing and the supposed middleweight champion facing a guy who wouldn't even make the top ten in the division below him? This would be a disappointing fight.

Could well be wrong but I think that was a one off performance by Cotto which was helped by Martinez own showing. I just can't see him doing that again to even the fringe world level middleweights. He's just too small and his chin hasn't been anything special at any weight he's fought at.

They need him to fight again before Alvarez and they probably think Lee is someone that's safe for Cotto not to jeopardise the Alvarez fight. I fancy Lee to beat him. If they'd gone Macklin I'd fancy Macklin to stop him.
As I said, most middleweights will be dangerous for him unless there's a catchweight but I don't think they'll go that route for Lee.

Lee was competing at light middleweight in his last fight so this is a fight that could even have come about in the division below. Lee is pretty ordinary. He has rarely impressed in a meaningful fight or established world level credential in any divisions he has campaigned in. This is about the softest opponent Cotto could realistically conjur up for a defence. For someone in Cottos position this kind of defence should not be acceptable.

Lee fits the bill, most importantly he can fight at the catchweight of 155lbs that cotto will demand. Agreed with the potential of a banana skin, lee has been the perineal underachiever. Seems to get into a tear up when ever he should box, hasn't the chin to sustain that approach. Great expectations on him as an amateur Olympian. Middleweight hopes under stewards tutelage, this will be his last shot. IfMartinez's knees made cotto look better than he actually is, and if Andy can play the rangey game, cotto could easily come a cropper.

What has boxing come to when we are talking about Lee vs Cotto being a decent fight;

Financially yes; though not in terms of PPV numbers...other than that it is a sham fight; which quite frankly the upper echelons of the boxing fraternity is these days..

We were stopped of seeing Manny vs Mayweather so both could fight catchweight...we've now been stopped of seeing the two best middleweights go at it in GGG vs Martinez...instead being fed Cotto vs Sergio..one who has no right in the division the other coming into the ring a spent force looking for a pay day.. & in Canelo v Lara we again had to settle for a catchweight contest...

That's arguably 3 of the most intriguing and best fights of the last 6 years completely pushed to the way side and in the case of 2 of them (Pac v Money/Sergio v GGG) financial reasons can't be used because the former would have shattered every record known to man and the latter would have seen Sergio earn more than or at least as much as he did against Cotto anyway!

Lee is a man who has lost on 2 of the 3 occasions he has stepped up to World Level..has never really looked like competing there yet I actually hope he smashes Cotto to pieces!

People whinge and moan about the likes of Quigg holding paper titles and facing stiff's etc...but this is far worse for me. At least with the likes of Quigg etc we aren't & they aren't masquerading as P4P stars who then cherry pick their way around the very best test out there..

If your Cotto...Mayweather...Martinez...Pacman...or anyone else supposedly in the mythical P4P list then you have a duty to boxing to fight the very best. Say what you want but the only way boxing approaches the mainstream again for the right reasons is if those 'PPV stars' get in the ring with the very best..at the normal weights of each division without the catchweight stipulations and not 4 years to late when one is a washed up parody of themselves!

Awful fight, if it's not Golovkin I'm not interested. Fans shouldn't be happy with guff like this just because it makes financial sense for a fighter who is already a multimillionaire.

Andy Lee is literally never going to get a better chance to win a strap. I'm surprised Cotto took this, as I'm not really convinced he's a decent middleweight, thought he'd only fight big fights at the weight, as his reign there isn't going to be very long. I'd go
Lee RTD Cotto
Martinez UD Lee
Martinez rematches Cotto, in a fight even more pointless than the first one.

Bookmark it.

Is this not the type of mismatch that Lucifer Hearn gets criticised for?

Don't think it's a complete mismatch... Cotto has an outside chance 

Hard to gauge cotto on the martinez fight. He looked great at middle, but how much was how shot martinez was? I think it was a bit of both but I Don't think any of us know for sure...  It will take the next fight to have a better view.

Worse fighters than lee have had world title shots. If its a time filler for a Canelo fight, so be it. Just conjecture at the moment anyway I believe?

Adam D wrote:Is this not the type of mismatch that Lucifer Hearn gets criticised for?

From both sides.

If he were Arum, Strongy would slate him for lining up a walkover.

If he were DiBella, Strongy would slate him for sending his man out to get pummelled (despite actually doing a great shot to get a fringe player a credible title shot).

That said, as per Milky, I think this is a perfectly acceptable filler fight before the big one.

Should do decent ticket sales and be a decent watchable scrap. He's not finding a part-timer, just an average level contender.

It's not an acceptable filler fight because:

a) Lee hasn't fought anything approaching world level since being dismantled by Chavez Jr

b) It's a filler for this supposed big one...which will be two guys fighting at a catchweight, no doubt with the middleweight title on the line...

Meanwhile the man who is an actual middleweight and want's to prove he is the bets and clean out the division has to sit by the wayside and watch it all going on as he is frozen out due to not being 'PPV Worthy enough'...

If Alvarez and Cotto want a payday...fine just don't masquerade it as a showdown between two of the best middlweights/light middleweights....they both got creamed by Mayweather (who wasn't even a light middle himself)...and neither will step into the ring with the true middleweight king GGG (regardless of what you think regards overhyped or not he is the legitimate champion in the division)...

Just say what it is...a fight to boost the bank balance and nothing more...that's what grates me the most about it all. Hear them bang on about legacy etc yet none of them make the moves to actually add to it.

Alvarez beats Cotto - Cotto shouldn't of been anywhere near the weight
Cotto beats Alvarez - Well Alvarez was just overhyped anyway and had lost to Mayweather

If either fought and beat GGG, people may say well Golovkin wasn't as good as we fought but they couldn't take away the fact they beat an unbeaten fighter, who (in the eyes of most of the public) was avoided like the plague & to top it was a true middleweight champion!

I know which one would stand in much higher stead in my opinion!

Lee was hardly dismantled by Chavez, he was winning the fight comfortably b3fore the size difference became an overwhelming factor.

You also can't be the legitimate champion if you don't beat the legitimate champion.

Well both myself and GGG must be stumped on this one Hammersmith;

How's he supposed to beat the legitimate champion if said champion is taking the easy road to money and a sham fight rather than given the at the time Number 2 in the division a shot!?

Now that said legitimate champion has been beaten albeit at a catchweight you must believe that Cotto is the number 1 guy in the division...a division he has technically not yet fought in and doesn't look like doing so for his apparent 'big showdown' with Alvarez...

I am utterly bemused reading some posters thoughts, as to how they actually think GGG can become legitimate champion. People saying he has to beat the man to be the man...but the man never gave him a shot...the man was never actually beaten at middleweight in his last fight...and now the new man isn't giving GGG a shot...

Oh and regards Lee; judges had him two up with 5 to go and I had him 2 possible 3 up but gradually being worn down; I don't think any part of the night was as you put it comfortable for Lee. Fact is he has shown nothing to suggest he can make a fight of this and whilst im not one to say fighters shouldn't take there chances when they get them the simple fact is that Cotto is making a mockery of the boxing scene and for that I hope he gets mopped up next time out...

Take the fight with GGG at middleweight or p*ss off back down to Light-Middle and leave the belt behind for real legitimate fighters who want to improve their legacy to fight over.

Can you be the legitimate champion if you don't fight your clearest, most deserving challenger?

Its a sorry a$$ state of affairs at middleweight

I stand to be corrected, but, I'm sorry, Cotto is a joke of a MW champion. Really like and respect him as a fighter, but he's just too small. Martinez was an utter shell (thought he was awful against Murray, too) and that the only reason why he is where he is. Practically any fringe top-10 opponent stops him IMO - or at least they should do if they're truly worth their ranking. Golovkin destroys him. He'll only stay as a MW belt holder by avoiding and cherry picking, I think, and no one wants to see that.

None of us like the state of play in boxing at the moment Owen but titles aren't given out to who we perceive to be the best, without Golovkin actually beating Martinez we don't know for certain that he would have done. We have a pretty good indication he takes the Martinez out who fought Cotto in a couple of rounds but unfortunately it didn't happen.

Lee was winning the Chavez fight through six rounds but regardless a dismantling it was not.

I still think Andy beats Miguel. I mean yeah, he isn't special, but not everyone can have the athleticism of a Martinez, defensive prowess of a Floyd, buzzsaw stamina of a Manny, you work with what you've got. He's got a solid game, and if he comes in with a solid gameplan, I think he becomes the new lineal middleweight champion of the world*.

Even if this happens, GGG isn't getting within square kilometer of a unification bout. I don't think he actually gets near it unless Saul "one judge in the bag" Alvarez wins the strap.

Lee was dismantled by Chavez. Completely broken down and stopped. Lee is not world class. He is often unimpressive against even mediocre opponents.

Do you even watch any boxing or do you just make it up as you go on?

*Awaits retort referencing boxrec.

You the guy who doesn't watch it and just goes off boxrec. Lee was taken apart by Chavez. Chavez did nothing in the first couple of rounds which allowed Lee get in front. He then started to walk him down and totally demolished him. Watch the fight.

Chavez is a better middleweight than Cotto though, mainly because Chavez at middleweight is actually a cruiserweight.

Chavez is no great shakes. He would probably beat Cotto at middleweight I agree. Lee is a different matter altogether though.

Yeah, but no one is proclaiming Lee as the god of the division. I watched the Martinez-Cotto fight again this afternoon. Martinez actually landed a lot of punches that night, not like when he used Chavez as a speedbag, but he still landed a lot. Problem was, that night his punches were Malignaggi power level. I really don't think Cotto has improved that much under Freddie, and if Lee comes out with the right gameplan (Kronk boxing, I suppose) he doesn't have to execute it to a particularly high level to beat Cotto.

Adam D wrote:Is this not the type of mismatch that Lucifer Hearn gets criticised for?

No.

I think that if Cotto could reproduce his performance against Martinez he would have no problem beating Lee and would most likely knock him out. What performance have you seen from Lee that would make you think hes favourite to win? He consistently struggles to establish himself against fighters that are of ordinary calibre. I saw him against a low rate opponent on a Frampton undercard, he was poor. I read a report of a fight he had there against a journeyman standard light middleweight and he barely won. In the past hes had struggles with guys like Vera and McEwan. Hes a sloppy fighter with a leaky defence. Hes bigger than Cotto and Cotto is past his best but I don't think Lee looks like the boxer capable of making those things count.

Little earner before a big fight.

 

Strongback wrote:

Adam D wrote:Is this not the type of mismatch that Lucifer Hearn gets criticised for?

No.

  

It's a lot easier to produce that sort of performance against a guy with one good leg though. I mean he landed at 54% vs Martinez... that's 13% more than he managed against the half blind, punching bag known as Margarito. He really hasn't improved to that degree, I mean let's be real.

As for Lee: I like the guy, but I think he's got the tools for the W. He's tall, decent enough speed, okay power, rangy southpaw. He can win.

Sounds like Audley Harrison

Derbymanc wrote: 

Strongback wrote:

Adam D wrote:Is this not the type of mismatch that Lucifer Hearn gets criticised for?

No.

  

Brian Rose was sent out to New York to take a beating so Eddie could go on a jolly and schmooze with HBO.

Strongback wrote:

Derbymanc wrote: 

Strongback wrote:

Adam D wrote:Is this not the type of mismatch that Lucifer Hearn gets criticised for?

No.

  

Brian Rose was sent out to New York to take a beating so Eddie could go on a jolly and schmooze with HBO.

  

Strongback wrote:

Adam D wrote:Is this not the type of mismatch that Lucifer Hearn gets criticised for?

No.

BS.

Strongback wrote:

Derbymanc wrote: 

Strongback wrote:

Adam D wrote:Is this not the type of mismatch that Lucifer Hearn gets criticised for?

No.

  

Brian Rose was sent out to New York to take a beating so Eddie could go on a jolly and schmooze with HBO.

Read: Brian Rose was gifted a career-high payday and a world title shot he arguably didn't earn/deserve but I can't deal with it because I have massive daddy-issues.

Bit of a Cotto love-in at the moment.

To disagree with the majority, I don't see what the problem is. The fight has been suggested, not signed. And even if it does happen, Cotto won the belt 2 months ago, it's not like he's been dodging GGG for years. Some people need to chill.

We've got people stating it's a rubbish fight but one Cotto could very would lose. Well, it can't be both, can it? Are we criticising him for being a cherry picker or are we saying he's a rubbish fighter?

For the record, I believe Cotto would hammer Lee or Macklin for that matter. Levels above.

Cotto may be levels above but he'd be up against genuine MW and Macklin certainly isn't the kind of fighter who generally gets blown away. He's be in Cotto's face all night long and if Floyd can have Cotto wobbling, I'm pretty sure Macklin could hurt him as well. Seen Lee a few times and am wondering if there's another Andy Lee fighter cos the one I've watched seems average in the extreme.

I like Andy Lee but in his last fight at light middle he was getting outboxed and was seriously hurt when he landed that KO shot. Bit of a Hail Mary, peach of a shot though!

Andy Lee's struggles have come against guys who've been able to get big on him. Cotto is not going to get big on him. I mean Cotto really hasn't improved that much. Martinez is having his knees looked into again in a month, this nearly three months after his last fight, when he's done the square root of nothing since. Cotto demolished a shell, and it says as much about his middleweight credentials starring in 50 Shades of Grey says about one's acting ability.

For the record, past 147, I'm not sure what Cotto has done to be levels above anyone. Beating fighters with one good leg for titles notwithstanding.

If Lee doesn't get a shot, I hope Murray does. I absolutely love the guy from his time over here.

Dipper Brown wrote:Bit of a Cotto love-in at the moment.

To disagree with the majority, I don't see what the problem is. The fight has been suggested, not signed. And even if it does happen, Cotto won the belt 2 months ago, it's not like he's been dodging GGG for years. Some people need to chill.

We've got people stating it's a rubbish fight but one Cotto could very would lose. Well, it can't be both, can it? Are we criticising him for being a cherry picker or are we saying he's a rubbish fighter?

For the record, I believe Cotto would hammer Lee or Macklin for that matter. Levels above.

He should fight the top middleweight in the division who has been frozen out for ages. Lee would be a cherry picked fight against an ordinary, undeserving challenger.

Massive overrating of Cotto as a middleweight.
Must be on a wind up to say he beats Macklin

The three times he's fought for a world strap he's come up short. Pretty conclusive proof that he isn't at that top level. Don't see any reason why that would change against Cotto, I think he'd be on the end of a beating.

On a side note, I really thought by now we would have seen Macklin-Lee, Macklin-Murray or Lee-Murray, especially Macklin-Lee. It seemed that "The Gloves Are Off" show last year was hinting at this and then there were rumours of Lee-Macklin for St Patricks Day this year which never materialised. Perhaps Eddie is hoping that one of them will pick up a strap before putting that on, though i'm not sure it needs it to sell in Ireland.

Yeah that's true Animal. I'd have assumed at least one of those fights would have happened. Lee Macklin and Barker (pre injury) Murray seemed likely.

I thought Murray was brilliant on that show, winding up Macklin telling him he was beaten before he got in the ring with GGG.