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His string of 19 straight victories over the likes of Demetrio Ceballos, Cesar Bazan, Victor Sosa and others earned him the right to be referred to as a contender. One criticism of Cotto has been the abundance of lightweights on his resume. Critics argue that he has not yet beaten a 140 lb. contender. In a way they are right, but that criticism is a bit nit picky. Come Saturday night, however, there will no turning back. N'Dou is not an extremely accomplished fighter himself, but he is recognized as a legitimate 140-lb contender. In his last fight he gave Mitchell all he could handle. A win for Cotto should silence the critics...for now.
That's the thing about the blue chip fighters; they will always have critics. Cotto is a blue chipper and he carries unusually high expectations on his shoulders. He is, afterall, "the next Felix Trinidad." Or as Bob Arum would say "the next Oscar De la Hoya." Either way you look at it the expectations coming from either his home island of Puerto Rico or his home promotional company of Top Rank are extremely lofty. He will not only be expected to beat N'Dou he will be expected to win in style. After that he will be expected to not just win one title he will be expected to win many titles in multiple divisions. Not only will he be expected to produce in the ring he will be expected to produce at the box office. Both Trinidad and De la Hoya were/are successful pay per view attractions. Cotto will be expected to be one too.
The expectations are endless, but first Cotto must to get by N'Dou on Saturday. If he doesn't he will have to rebuild, just as fellow prospect/contender Francisco 'Panchito' Bojado had to do earlier in his career. The pressure is building and the expectations are mounting, but everything would be even more intense if he ever were to lose. Will he be able to handle the pressure? So far so good, but we will know more come Saturday night. As the cliche goes, "it is going to be the toughest test of his career."
So what actually does happen when the prospect becomes a contender? How do we know when it has happened? The lights get brighter, the pressure mounts, the anticipation becomes less and less bearable and the fights actually mean something in the rankings. That sounds about right. Cotto is at that stage. His fights are no longer complete gimmes. Some people think he may lose this fight. Those who think he will win are calling for him to fight the likes of Vivian Harris, Ricky Hatton, Arturo Gatti or Mitchell in his next fight. The bar has been set, let's see if Cotto makes it over.
Judah Stays Busy...Regains Respect
Following his complete meltdown after his disputed stoppage loss to Kostya Tszyu many people questioned whether or not Zab Judah would ever realize his potential. Most of those who doubted Judah attacked not only his maturity, but also his heart. Everyone knew Judah was extremely confident when he was undefeated coming up the ranks, but could he handle the humiliation of an early round KO loss? Would he ever be able to redeem himself? Popular opinion gave a resounding no as its answer.
Two and half years have passed since Tszyu made Zab do the now famous "Judah Shuffle." In the immediate aftermath Judah was fined and suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commision for his inexcusable attack of referee Jay Nady. Then Judah had a falling out with his former promoter, Main Events, which led to an even longer spell of inactivity than his suspension did. Since signing with Don King, however, Judah has been on a mission to prove that he is the best boxer in or around his weight class. With a fight against Rafael Pineda scheduled for the undercard of Jones-Tarver II, Judah will have fought four times in the last 10 months; this despite having broken his hand last July in his 12-round victory of Demarcus Corley. Judah has not fought a series of world beaters [aside from Cory Spinks], but he is staying active against mostly contenders. As a result the black cloud is gradually beginning to fade off into the horizon.
Fights to Looks Forward To
This Saturday's HBO card kicks off a stretch of four weeks during which a plethora of interesting high profile fights are scheduled to occur. I'm looking forward to all of them. I love competitive fights. Some of the fights that are piquing my interest right now are the IBF lightweight title match between Javier Jauregui and Julio Diaz, the Jr. Welterweight debut of Floyd Mayweather Jr. against Demarcus Corley and the IBF Jr. Middleweight title scrap between Kasim Ouma and Verno Phillips. The fight of the year may very well be decided in the course of the next four weeks.
