Eaton Thatcher
Pulling in 805,000 viewers for a fight is a commendable feat. Doing it on the same day as the Mayweather/McGregor super-fight is just downright ridiculous. Miguel Cotto vs Yoshihiro Kamegai, a bout for the vacant WBO light-middleweight title, received almost no coverage leading up to the fight (at least in the English-speaking world) and was completely drowned out by the MayMac media circus.
Still, boxing fans tuned in to see Cotto (41-5, 33 KOs) return to the ring after a year-long absence. Facing an ill-equipped Yoshihiro Kamegai (27-4, 24 KOs), the Puerto Rican legend reminded us why he’s among the best fighters of his generation. Over 12 rounds, he picked up a one-sided unanimous decision win against Kamegai (120-108, 119-109 and 118-110).
The 36-year-old (soon to be 37) plans to retire at the end of the year, but he’s hungry for one more fight before he hangs up the gloves. He’s eyeing a December date at Madison Square Garden, and he has a few opponents in mind.
MIGUEL COTTO’S FINAL FIGHT:
ODDS ON OPPONENT
Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs): 3/1
Amir Khan hasn’t fought since suffering a brutal knockout at the hands of Canelo Alvarez last year. Now that a lucrative fight against Manny Pacquiao has become pretty unlikely, the British boxer has to look elsewhere for his next opponent.
His career has taken a dip in recent years and this fight would be just what he needs to get back on track. Claiming the WBO light-middleweight title from a six-time world champion would definitely revitalize his career.
Mikey Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs): 4/1
Mikey Garcia recently threw his hat in the ring via Twitter. While this would be a great fight to watch, it’s a tough one to make. Garcia has never fought above lightweight, and making a three-division leap is out of the question for him. Cotto has gone as low as light welterweight, but that was over ten years ago.
If both fighters are eager to make the fight work, they can arrange for a catchweight somewhere in the middle.
Canelo Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs): 7/1
Alvarez beat Cotto back in 2015, with the judges awarding the fight to Canelo by a sizeable margin (119-109, 118-110 and 117-111). Cotto believed that he won and was outspoken about his thoughts on the result. A final fight against Canelo would be the perfect way to end his career … well, if he wins, that is.
Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs): 7/1
Cotto’s dream is to end his career with a fight against the winner of Golovkin/Alvarez, but that would require his opponent to fight just three months after perhaps the toughest fight of the year. Golovkin is the narrow favorite to beat Alvarez, but the 35-year-old will probably need quite a bit of time to recover.
Conor McGregor (0-1): 50/1
If McGregor is going to stay in boxing, this is one of the few fights he could take up. It would be a big draw (though peanuts compared to MayMac) and it’s against a fading former world champion.
Cotto probably isn’t on McGregor’s radar at the moment. “Notorious” has so many options available to him, and a settle-the-score match against Paulie Malignaggi would be a more profitable (and more winnable) fight.
